She's More
by wolflover777
Summary: Fang has just moved next to Max in Hollywood. Max is the tough bad girl that most people in school aviod. Is Fang different? Will he figure out her secrets? Both of them? Can he help save her? Chapter 14 is up!
1. Chapter 1

**AN: So, for those of you that haven't already guessed this, I do not own Maximum Ride. I don't know if these disclaimer things are necessary, but everyone else does them, so…*shrugs* You get the point. And so do I. You want me to shut up now. On with the story!**

Chapter One

(Fang's POV)

Don't you just hate those rich, snotty people who feel the need to rub their richness and success in your face? I do. But guess where my mom decided to move us to? One word: Hollywood. The rich, snotty people capital of the _world_. I mean, yeah, we're rich too, but we don't rub it in others' faces. It's just not right. Plus, it's annoying as crap.

"I can't believe we're moving to Hollywood! Isn't this so exciting, Fang! I hope we get to meet some famous people. OMG! Maybe I'll meet Taylor Laughtner! Do you know how cool that would be? He's _so_ hot and–"

"NUDGE!" I yelled. "Look, I know you like Taylor Laughtner, and I agree with you that the Edwin guy is ugly! And I am a firm member in the Real Men Don't Sparkle Club. But I swear, I'll strangle you if you say one more word about Twilight!" **(AN: No offense to Twilight fans out there. I personally have never been interested, but some of you out there have to admit that some people take it a little too far.)**

Nudge was my sister. She was adopted, but we adopted her when I was like, three, so we pretty much grew up like normal siblings. With all the bickering included. She had mocha colored skin, and dark hair that looked great, but hated water. Nudge herself was a fashion freak. She was always wearing the latest trends, always knew what was in and what was out, and always was pestering me about my all black attire. Me? I don't get fashion. Like, for example, why can't you wear a white shirt after labor day? I say we should be able to wear whatever the heck we want to. I guess others don't agree. But I digress. **(AN: Sorry, but I just recently figured out what that meant, yet I've heard people say it all the time. I know. I'm just that cool.)**

Nudge scowled. "Why? You know it's my favorite book!"

"Because it's my car so it's my rules." I growled. Yes, we were driving in my car. My truck, actually. One of those brand new Ford ones. Mom had the oh so brilliant idea of letting Nudge ride with me. I think she just wanted to avoid having to listen to Nudge the whole way herself. She's so evil.

Nudge sighed and turned the radio on. Animal I Have Become by Three Days Grace came on. Nudge reached to change the station. "Change my song and you'll lose your fingers." I threatened. I know it sounds like I'm being harsh, but, of course, the day we move is the same day that every _idiot_ driver is out on the road. We'd almost crashed three times, so I was frustrated and just a little stressed. (Note the sarcasm)

Nudge, (sensing my threatening mood and therefore know she really _would_ lose a finger) quickly moved her hand away from the radio. So fast that I could barely even see it. I guess what my old friends used to say is true. I can make the Hounds of Hell look like cute little puppies. There word choice, not mine.

Suddenly, my iPhone went off. I took it out of my pocket and handed it to Nudge. I may not be one for rules, but I definitely never drove while talking or texting on my phone. Especially when Nudge is in the car. I don't want to be a bad influence on her.

"Hello? Oh, hey mom!" Nudge said. She listened quietly (I know. It's a miracle) for a minute. "Take the next right and it's the second house on the left? Okay. See you in a minute! Love you too. Bye." She gave my phone back to me. "Are you okay?" she asked. "You seem to be in a really bad mood today."

"What was your first clue?" I asked irritably. "The whole reason we're moving down here is because mom and dad got a divorce. We had to leave all of our friends. Every idiotic butthole is on the road today. And to make things worse, we're moving to _Hollywood_, home of the rich and snobby."

Nudge stared at me. "That's the most I've ever heard you say. I think I'm rubbing off on you!" she said happily. I groaned and smacked my forehead on the steering wheel, skillfully avoiding the horn (We were at a red light, so I could do this without getting us killed). Nudge seemed thoughtful. "Wait, aren't we rich? I think you're being a hypocrite."

"Yeah, but we're not snobby." I defended.

Nudge shook her head. "Come on, Fang. You know mom feels really bad about making us have to move. At least try to be happy. Besides, you'll make all new friends. And you're hot so you'll be very popular with the ladies. You'll probably find a new crush within a few days." Nudge said.

"I didn't even say anything about Brigid. She was a waste of time anyways." I grumbled.

"Then why did you date her in the first place?" Nudge asked.

I shrugged. "She was hot. I liked her when we first started going out, but then she started hanging out with all those popular preppy girls. She just became annoying after that." I replied, switching the radio off as I turned right. "Mom said the second house on the left, right?" I asked, my eyes already on the mansion-like house.

"Yep." Nudge replied.

"I was afraid of that." I mumbled. Our house was big. And (shudder) _white_. It was about two stories tall. One room had a balcony on it. I could see another balcony on the house next to it. "I call the balcony room."

"Go ahead." Nudge said. "I call the biggest room. They always put balconies on the smaller rooms so they seem bigger."

I shrugged. I didn't care how small my room was. As long as it had a bed and a place to plug in my laptop, I was fine. "Who lives in the house next to us?" I asked.

"A girl about your age, a boy about eight, and a girl about six, along with their dad." Nudge replied.

"No mom?" I asked.

"Nope, something else we have in common. We're both missing one parent." Nudge said bitterly.

I nodded. My mom and dad "officially" divorced a couple weeks ago, but they'd broke it off a few months ago. As soon as Mom learned that dad was cheating on her with one of her work friends, she kicked him out of the house. And Nudge and I helped her. It was wrong of my dad to do that. Luckily, Mom won custody of us.

I pulled into the driveway, Mom parking the moving van on the other side of me. My Uncle Mike drove her car and parked it behind mine. But he instantly hopped out, hugged us goodbye, and took off in a waiting taxi. He had to get to the airport before his plane left him. Otherwise, he'd be saying some very colorful words.

And then the boring unpacking started. I told Mom that I'd claimed the room with the balcony and she didn't have a problem with it. After we got most of the things in the house, me and Nudge took our paint cans up to our rooms. We both thought it would be easier to paint our rooms without all the furniture in the way. Of course, mine would be black, and Nudge's would be pink and lavender.

It was boring as heck. I looked up from my work and saw a girl out on the other balcony. She was beautiful. She had dirty blonde hair and captivating brown eyes. Her eyes were dangerous and threatening, cautious, and…mischievous all at the same time. She was about five-eight, and she was wearing blue jeans with ripped knees and a red T-shirt.

I walked out onto my balcony, not even thinking about the fact that I'd took my shirt off because it was hot in the house. "Hey!" I called. The girl's head snapped around and she looked at me. I noticed that her eyes went to my chest, then up to my eyes where she raised a questioning eyebrow. "I'm your new neighbor." I added, answering her silent question.

She smirked at me. "Welcome to the neighborhood." she replied. "You going to Hell High too?"

I sighed. "Is it really that bad?" I asked.

She laughed. It was a beautiful sound. It wasn't all giggly like most girls', but it was nice and full, like she didn't hold back. "We're the Mayberry Devils. That's why they call it Hell High. It's literally our schools nickname."

"Oh." I said, feeling like an idiot. "Then, yeah, me and my sister will be going there. What's your name?"

"Maximum Ride. Max for short. What's yours?" she replied.

"Nicholas Chance, but I go by Fang." She raised a questioning eyebrow at me. "I used to bite a lot when I was little. Give me a break."

"_Maximum! Get down here right now!_" someone in the house bellowed. Max turned away from me.

"Coming!" she called back. She turned back to me. "Sorry, I got to go. I'll see you around."

"Alright, see you." I said. I sighed. The beginning of my junior year starts after the weekends over. Two more days. I only had Saturday and Sunday to prepare. But if Max was going to be there, it might be a little better.


	2. Chapter 2

**Hey everybody! Guess what?! I don't own Maximum Ride! And I've really got to start remembering the disclaimers on my other story! Well, here's the chapter. I hope you like it. It will get more interesting from here. Sorry if the first chapter was kind of boring. It was just an introduction sort of thing.**

(Max POV)

I woke up early. I always do. It's like I'd programmed my body to wake up at six in the morning. That's because I have to get up and fix breakfast for _Jeb_, even on the weekends. And since he leaves at seven, that means I have to have breakfast out at six-thirty sharp. I know, it sucks. But if I don't do it, he gets ticked off.

I stood up and stretched my arms above my head, rocking onto my toes. I sighed in relief as my back popped. I stretched out my wings and shook them out, working out all the kinks.

Yes, I did say wings. Jeb is a scientist. A genetics scientist to be exact. And he's so screwed up in the head that he gave his only child _wings_. And that's not all. I have air sacks, my lungs are big, I faster, stronger, and "better in every way", according to Jeb. But I have to eat a lot, go through torturous experiments, and live with an abusive father.

Yeah, it sucks. Not to mention the fact that I'm a _mutant freak_! I mean, come on! Who in their screwed up mind turns a normal kid into a human-avian hybrid! Isn't this kind of research illegal anyways!

Shaking my head, I abruptly halted my mental babble. I threw on some school clothes, brushed my teeth and hair, then ran downstairs to start making breakfast. I quickly cook up some eggs and made toast, setting them out on a plate for Jeb. I just grabbed some cereal for myself.

Then Jeb came in. "Hello, Maximum. I see you weren't late for once." he said coldly.

I ground my teeth, but nodded. "Yeah."

"Do you have school today? And don't say 'yeah' to me, it's disrespectful." he said.

I glared up at him, but said, "Yes, sir, I do have school today." I know what you're probably thinking. You're the great Maximum Ride! You're stronger than he is! You've got freaking _wings_, so just kick his butt already! Well, it's not that easy. See, even the great Maximum Ride has friends. And if Jeb can hurt his own daughter without thinking twice, imagine what he'd do to her friends if said daughter beat him into next week. Yeah, it wouldn't be pretty. I already have to go through it. I wouldn't make my friends have to suffer with me.

Pain in my left cheek snapped me out of my thoughts, about the same time as my head snapped to the side. Jeb had punched me. Looks like I'd been ignoring him. Whoops.

"Don't ignore me Maximum." he said, deadly quiet.

"Yes sir." I said through clenched teeth, glaring at him even harder than he was glaring at me. I stood up and took mine and his plate to the sink, washing them off before putting them back into the dishwasher.

I walked over and grabbed my backpack. "Later." I grumbled. I walked out of the house and towards my school. Jeb, being the abusive, mostly drunk parent that he is, doesn't exactly spend money on me. So even though I'm sixteen, I don't have a car to drive to school, so I walk.

"Hey, Max! Wait up!" I heard a familiar voice call. It was Iggy, one of my best friends. He had strawberry blond hair and pale blue eyes, and he was my age. He was blind, and pale. He was tall, about six-two, and was a master at anything explosive related. He was also the clown of the school.

He was being led along by his little brother and sister, Gazzy and Angel. Gazzy had blond hair and blue eyes. He was Iggy's ten-year-old, right hand man and apprentice in all things that go boom. He was a sweet kid, and a little trooper. But he had this…problem with his digestive system. I mean, let's just think about this for a second. Gazzy? Aka, the Gasman? Yeah, pretty self-explanatory.

Angel was their six-year-old little sister, and my baby girl. She was sweet, but her Bambi Eyes could make you do anything. You just couldn't say no. She had her blond curls, and the same blue eyes that her brothers had. She was adorable.

Oh, and they don't know about the wings, or about Jeb. No one does. And I plan on keeping it that way.

I grinned at them as they came up, pushing all my pessimistic thoughts aside. "Hey guys." I said.

"Hey. Think you'll get into another fight today?" Iggy asked. Let me explain. I don't let things go very easily. So, I get into fights pretty much three times a week. Jeb gets ticked off when I do, and beats me for it. But he comes home drunk every night and beats me anyways. It's not like he beats me anymore than he usually does. But because I get into fights so much, a lot of people at school avoid me. I actually like it better than way though. Most of the snotty, rich kids at my school annoy the crap out of me anyways.

"Probably." I said .

"Doesn't your dad get ticked off when you get into fights?" Gazzy asked. I stiffened, but was sure to keep my expression blank. "Yeah. He doesn't do anything about it though." A total lie.

"Hey, you're that Max girl." a familiar voice said.

I turned to see that kid I met on my balcony the other day. What was his name?.. "Oh. Fang, right?"

He nodded. "Who are you?" Angel asked in her sweet voice.

He smiled down at her. "My name is Fang." he replied easily.

"He's my new neighbor. I've only had one conversation with him, but he seems better than the last family that lived in that house." I said. Me and Iggy shared an eye roll. The last family that lived next door brought a new meaning to the word snobby.

"Uh…thanks?" Fang said uncertainly.

I grinned. "Your welcome."

Angel rolled her eyes and grabbed my hand, dragging me along. I swear she was becoming more and more like me every day. "Come one, we're going to be late." she said.

"Who cares if we're late? It's just school." Gazzy said.

"School is very important. You have to have a good education if you want to be a police officer, like you want to." I said.

"What do I need to learn to be a cop?" Gazzy said. "All you do is tackle people and arrest the bad guys."

I sighed and rolled my eyes. "It's a lot more than that, Gazzy. It's a very important job. And you have to have a good education in law. After all, how would you know if someone was breaking the law if you don't know which law they're breaking?" I asked him.

"…Good point." I smirked. I'm just amazing with my logic.

We arrived at the school five minutes before the first bell. "I'll show you to the office." I told Fang. "See you guys later!" I called to the others, dragging Fang with me. Our school had three different buildings. One for high school, one for middle school, and one for elementary school.

I dragged Fang into the office and up to the front desk. "It's Nicholas Chance, right?" I asked him. He nodded.

"How can I help you?" Mrs. Madison, the front desk lady, asked me warily. She's seen me in this office way too many times.

"Relax, I haven't boxed someone out yet. This is Nicholas Chance. He's the new kid. I'm helping him find his way around the school." I said, smirking. Even the teachers knew not to get on my bad side.

She nodded and handed me his schedule and a map of the school. "Thanks!" I called out. "Alright, Fang, let's look at your schedule." I said to Fang. I looked down at Fang's schedule. "Huh. You have the same classes I do." I frowned. "Weird. But, it'll be a heck of a lot easier to show you around."

"That is weird." he said, taking the schedule from me. "So I have Homeroom, Chemistry honors, Algebra II honors, and Civics honors." He gave me a surprised look. "You take honors classes?"

I raised an eyebrow. "Yeah. Why, do I look that stupid to you?" I asked, frowning.

He shook his head. "You just didn't seem like that type." he mumbled.

I smirked. "I know." I said. He turned away and started walking. "Uh, Fang?" He turned and raised an eyebrow at me, giving me a frustrated look. My grin grew. "Homeroom is that way."

He glared at me, but actually decided to do the smart thing and follow the person who actually knew where they were going. We got to the door. "Brace yourself for this." I said. "This school is screwed up." I grinned. I opened the door and we walked in.


	3. Chapter 3

**AN: Hey everybody! I'm back! And I still don't own Maximum Ride! Alright, so here's chapter three. I hope you guys enjoy it! And review!**

(Fang's POV)

"Brace yourself for this." Max said. "This school is screwed up." She grinned wickedly at me and opened the door. Feeling even more nervous than before, I followed her in. There were kids just lounging about, throwing paper balls at each other, yelling, screaming, laughing, and spitting spit balls at each other and the teacher.

"Rich snobs," Max said, gesturing around the classroom, "think they can do whatever they want whenever they want. Here, we get to see them in their natural habitat." I chuckled. She made it sound like she was hosting some animal show.

Max sat down in a random desk and motioned for me to sit beside her. "You better be glad I'm doing this." she said. "I get in a lot of fights here, so most of the annoying snobs avoid me for fear of ending up in the hospital. But I have a feeling some of the sluttish snobs will actually try and come up to you, despite the fact that they might lose a leg from getting to close to me." she said. Great. She thought I was a hindrance. Lovely.

I rolled my eyes and was about to respond when this red-headed girl that wasn't wearing nearly enough got in between us. "Hi. I haven't seen you around before. Are you new?" she asked.

Max rolled her eyes. "You want to know how she knows that?" Max pretended to whisper to me, but was speaking loud enough for everyone to hear. All of a sudden, it was dead quiet in the room. "Because you're the only guy in this school she hasn't slept with."

The red-headed girl's face turned even redder than her hair. "At least I can get a boy to want me in the first place." she sneered. I noticed how she didn't deny the accusation.

Max rolled her eyes. "I'm too busy knocking all of your heads in to find a boyfriend right now." she replied in a "duh" tone. "Look, Lissa, stop trying to corrupt the boy. I'm looking out for him right now. And that includes letting him date sluts that are just going to dump him as soon as they get what they want."

Lissa glared at Max. "Nobody here even likes you! Why do you even go to this school?"

"Because somebody has to knock you snobby idiots off your high horse." Max said. "Now, you've got two seconds to get away from me before I break your nose."

Lissa paled, and practically ran to the other side of the room. Max chuckled lightly and I joined her, more than amused. It turns out that homeroom was just like study hall. We just sat there and did nothing for an hour and a half. It was awesome. I got to talk to Max the whole time. She told me about all the kids in our class. She knew each of them by name, how snobby they were, and whether I should hang out with them or not. There were only two or three she said were alright.

"I'd rather hang out with you and your friends. You guys seem pretty cool." I said.

Max grinned. "Good. You'll like it around us. There's hardly ever a dull moment." That's when the bell rang. Chemistry was pretty cool. I came on a lab day, so that's all we did the whole class. Then it was lunchtime. I walked with Max to her table. All of the grades have lunch together, so Gazzy and Angel could sit with us. _I wondered if Nudge will sit with us too._ I was just thinking this when she found me.

"OMG! Hey Fang! You were right, there are a lot of snobs here. This one girl said that my outfit was tacky! Can you believe that?! I–" I cut her off by clamping my hand down on her mouth.

"Nudge, these are my friends, Max, Iggy, Gazzy, and Angel." I said pointing to each of them as I said there name. "Guys, this is my adoptive sister Nudge."

"Hey guys." she said, but it was muffled by my hand over her mouth.

Max looked confused. "She lives with you?" she asked. I nodded. "Why didn't she walk with us this morning?"

I chuckled. "Mom offered to drive us this morning. I said that I wanted to walk, but Nudge took up her offer." I said.

"Ah." Max said, getting it. She looked Nudge over. "Well, I don't know a lot about this stuff, but I think you look great." she said, smiling at Nudge.

Nudge beamed at her (I'd already taken my hand away from her mouth.). "Thanks!" she said.

The rest of the school day went without too much trouble. A couple of the snobby slut girls came up to me, but Max always chased them away. She told me that I needed to watch out for them, that she wouldn't always be there to chase them away. She made it sound like a nightmare, which I guess was pretty close. I mean most boys would love it, but I didn't. I'd much rather have a girlfriend that wasn't conceited. And there was always the little matter that I don't want her wearing clothes that show all the other boys everything.

Max and Iggy burst out the doors at the end of school, yelling, "Freedom!" Most of the other students gave them looks that clearly said _dorks_, but the rest of us just laughed.

We ended up going to Iggy's house. It was pretty cool. "So, how're you liking Hollywood so far?" Max asked, sitting beside me on the porch steps. We were in the back yard, watching Iggy and Nudge play with the kids.

"You know, I thought I wouldn't like it here, but it's actually pretty cool." I said, looking at her. "After all, I've only spent a few days here, and I've already found great friends."

She smiled at me. Not her usual sarcastic smirk, but an actual smile. It lit up her eyes and face and made her even more beautiful. My breath hitched and my heart sped up, and I couldn't help but smile back.

"We've got to take you guys sight-seeing. There are all kinds of stuff here. We can even show you the famous Hollywood sign." she said. "We can walk around the city, probably meet somebody famous."

I chuckled. "Do you even know any famous people?" I asked.

She thought back. "Hmm…I met Taylor Laughtner once on the street." she said. Then she rolled her eyes. "I was with my friend J.J. She went nuts. It was pretty interesting. He's hot, but there's just something I don't like about him."

I don't know why, but I liked that. I smirked. "So, you don't know any famous people?" I asked.

Max rolled her eyes. "This is Hollywood." she said. "You can walk down the street and find a bunch of famous people if you look close enough."

"Why are you in Hollywood?" I asked.

Max looked surprised, but answered. "My dad and I moved down here six years ago. He chose Hollywood because it he knew for sure that there was a job opening down here he could take. He's a scientist." she said. When she talked about her dad, her eyes darkened, and her jaw tightened. They were very subtle differences. If I hadn't been watching her closely, I wouldn't have even noticed.

"Do you and your father not get along?" I asked.

I saw panic flash through her eyes for a second before she pushed it away. "We don't exactly see eye to eye."

"What about your mom?" I said. I knew I was being snoopy, but I was curious.

Max shrugged. "I don't know who my mom is." she said. I wanted to ask her if it was always just her and her dad, but I could tell Max was clamming up. She wasn't comfortable with all of my questions, something I could totally understand.

"My mom and dad recently divorced. Mom figured out that dad was cheating on her with one of her work friends. We literally kicked him out of the house." I told her, figuring that she trusted me with some of her story, so I should trust her with some of mine. "That's why I moved down here. We used to live in Arizona. I guess mom wanted to get as far away from my dad as she possibly could."

Max sighed. "That must suck." she said, shooting me a sympathetic look. I didn't really want sympathy though. "It must be tough on you guys."

"I think it was worse for mom than it was for me and Nudge. I mean, she loved Dad. Nudge and I had been suspicious of him for awhile. We noticed that he would get home really late. But we didn't want to worry Mom. It probably wasn't our best idea, but we were worried about how she'd take it." I replied.

She looked at me. She seemed to be studying me. "Max!" Angel said, tackling her and ruining the moment. "Max, save me!" she said.

Max looked confused, but then she saw Iggy and Gazzy running towards us. She grinned wickedly and ran towards them, tackling them. They went down and started rolling, wrestling each other. Nudge huffed as she sat down beside me and watched Angel as she joined Max, Iggy, and Gazzy.

"How can they have so much energy?" she asked.

I shook my head. "I have no idea." I replied. Suddenly my phone went off. "Hello?" I asked, answering it.

"Fang, I need you guys to come home now. It's time for dinner." my mom said.

"Okay." I said, keeping to my short answers. "Bye."

"Goodbye, Fang. Becareful coming back home."

"Alright, Mom." I hung up and turned to Nudge. "It's time to go. Dinner time." I said.

"Okay." she said. "Max!" she yelled. "We've got to go home!"

Max looked up, surprised. She walked over to us. "Why?" she asked, frowning.

"It's time for dinner. Our mom called." Nudge replied. "Mom will get ticked if we don't get home soon."

"Ah. Alright. Well, we'll see you tomorrow." she said, waving as she went to join the others.

"See ya!" Nudge called. I nodded in a goodbye sort of fashion. The others waved to us as we made our way back home. Maybe Hollywood isn't so bad after all.

**Alright guys, that's it for now. Review! And can somebody tell me how to make those lines that go across the page? I don't know how to do those.**


	4. Chapter 4

**AN: Hello people's! I don't own Maximum Ride! Now, on with the story! Here's chapter 4, where we're going to get some Max/Jeb tension!**

(Max's POV)

I got home and instantly went up to my room. I opened my wings, stretching them as far as she could go. I hated this. I wanted to be able to take off and fly around. But Jeb wouldn't let me fly. He didn't even like my wings. I think it was secretly because he felt guilty every time he saw my wings. And that was a new, foreign thing for him. He couldn't take that.

I looked out the glass balcony doors to see Fang in his bedroom. He looked up, saw me, and waved. I smiled and waved back. He walked out onto his balcony. Being smarter than the average bear, I figured he wanted to talk, so I walked out onto mine.

"Hey." he said (Well, more like yelled, but whatever.).

"Hey. What's up?" I called back.

He shrugged. "Reading." he replied, waving his book in the air. I opened my mouth to reply when I heard the screech of tires. Jeb's home, and probably drunk. Fear laced through me. He wouldn't be happy if he caught me talking to Fang.

I gave Fang an apologetic look before hurrying back inside, closing the glass door, and the curtains. I went downstairs just as Jeb opened the door. I know, you must be thinking, "Max! What are you thinking?! Avoid the drunken idiot, don't confront him!" Well, it's not that easy. If I try to avoid him, he just comes to find me and beats me even harder.

"What are you just standing around for you ungrateful (insert insulting swear word of your choice here)?! Go get me a beer from the fridge!" he yelled, getting right in my face. His breath, which reeked of alcohol, washed over my face. I wordless walked around him and into the kitchen. Maybe I'd get lucky and he'd die of an overdose. One can only hope.

"Here." I said. In his drunken state, he didn't notice the hint of menace in my voice, or that I put the can down with a little more force than necessary. I didn't have to be as careful about the little details when he was drunk.

"Where were you today?" he growled. "You didn't call me." I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. I hate it when he tries to act like an actual father.

"I was at a friend's house." I replied.

He scowled. "Which friend's house?" he asked.

"Iggy's." I replied.

His scowl deepened, and I realized my mistake a second too late. He didn't like me hanging out with Iggy. He stood up. "What have I told you about that boy?! He's a bad influence on you! A trouble-maker!" he slurred. He slapped me across the face. My attitude stepped in before I could stop it. I couldn't help it. I was very protective over my friends.

"He's a good guy." I said. Jeb's eyes flashed. He punched me in my stomach. Then in my head. He punched me over and over and over again. He kicked my legs out from under me and started kicking me. I just curled up in a ball, being sure to protect my head and stomach.

"Don't." He kicked my back. "Talk." This time my shoulder. "Back." My leg. "To." My arm. "_Me_!" He yelled the last part, punctuating it by stomping on my side. I grunted in pain, gritting my teeth so I wouldn't cry out. I think he cracked a couple ribs. "Now get out of my sight you useless piece of s***!" he yelled. I moved to stand and he kicked me in the side of the head, hard. My head snapped to the side and I gasped in pain. He'd caught me off guard.

He sat back down on the couch, watching the TV again. I got up and stumbled to my room. I closed the door. Then I turned around and slide down it, one arm cradling my side. I hurt all over. No doubt I'd have a bunch of new bruises tomorrow. I got up, whimpering when my side protested. I looked in the mirror. I'd already had a bruise from when Jeb punched me this morning. Now, I looked even worst. I had a huge bruise already forming on the side of my head.

I went over to the bed and laid down. Pain was radiating through me. Suddenly, my phone went off. I reached over and grabbed it, despite how stiff I was already getting. I looked at my phone. It was a text message.

_Hey, y did u run out on me? Iggy gave me ur # when he text me earlier._

_-Fang_

I opened up the reply box, or whatever you call it.

_Sorry. My dad came home. I didn't think he'd like me yelling across the street. He'd be ticked if the neighbors complained to him._ As I waited for his reply, I added his number to my phone, so he wouldn't have to sign his name every time.

_It's cool. I wouldn't want you to get in trouble. How r u?_

_ Fine._ What a total lie that was. Why did I feel even worse lying to Fang than I did to the others? And it already killed me to lie to them! _Look, I'm tired. I'm going to sleep. Ttyl. ;)_

I waited for his reply. _K. Night. See u in the morning. :)_

I put my phone away and got under my covers. It took me awhile to find a position that didn't hurt.

(Fang's POV)

We were at my house now. It had been another boring day in school. Max looked bad. I mean, she was beautiful, but she looked bad. She had several new bruises on her arms, and a bad one on the side of her head. She wouldn't admit it, but I could tell her side was killing her.

She said that she'd gotten into a fight. The others got mad and told her she needed to be more careful. But I didn't believe that. There's something she's not telling me and I'm determined to find out.

Max sat down beside me, lowering herself a little slower than normal because of her side. "So, what's wrong with your side?" I asked her. I didn't meet her eyes. I kept mine on the others, who were playing tag. Max said she didn't want to play, but I knew that it was, again, because of her side. I'd wanted to have a serious chat with Max alone.

Max stiffened beside me before relaxing. But it was forced. "Nothing." she said.

I poked her in the side and Max hissed in a breath, her hand instantly going to her side, and she leaned forward slightly in pain. "Yeah, it sure seems like nothing." I said.

She swallowed hard. "Don't do that." she growled.

"What's wrong with your ribs?" I repeated on a growl.

Max looked into my eyes, hers telling me to drop it, mine telling her that I won't. She looked away. "They're badly bruised, maybe cracked." she mumbled.

My eyes widened. I knew it was bad, but not this bad. "How?!" I asked. She gave me an alarmed look. I'd almost yelled. I looked over at the others to make sure they hadn't heard. I knew she wouldn't want to worry them. "How?" I repeated, lower now.

"I got into a fight. I told you that." she said, looking me right in the eye. But I could see right through her.

"You're lying. Why?" I asked.

She glared at me. "I can't…its complicated." she growled. My conscious was telling me to drop it and not push so hard, but I ignored it.

"Who did this to you?" I asked.

She stood up. "It's not any of your business." she growled. Then, suddenly, all the fight was drained out of her. Like she didn't want to fight me. She looked so…broken. So un-Max-like. "I just…I can't." she replied. "I've got to go home. I'll see you later."

I looked up at her. "Alright. Be careful." I told her. She nodded and walked away.

The others came running over. "What's wrong with Max?" Iggy asked.

I looked at them, debating whether I should tell them or not. They were her best friends. If I knew, they deserved to know. Besides, maybe they might have an idea of what's going on. "Max has bruised ribs, they might even be cracked." I told them. "In a roundabout way, I got her to admit that she was lying to us about how she got them. But she didn't tell me why. She said it was complicated." I looked at her house. "Do you have any clue what might be going on?"

"No, no clue. I swear, if someone is bullying her, I'll kill them." Iggy growled.

"This is Max we're talking about. She wouldn't let anyone bully her." Nudge said.

"Unless it has something to do with us." Angel said.

Everyone but Gazzy looked at her in surprise. "What do you mean?" I asked.

Angel looked up at me with big, innocent eyes. "One time, me and Gazzy were waiting for Iggy and Mommy outside a store. These guys came up and started pushing us around. Max jumped in front of them. They were…seniors? I think that's what she called them. She let them hit her instead of us." she said.

Gazzy nodded. "They ended up breaking her nose and her arm. But she said that she didn't care as long as we were alright. It was one of the few times she's let her emotions show." he added.

"So, you're saying if it endangers us, she'd let herself get hurt?" Nudge asked.

Angel and Gazzy both nodded.

"But what could be endangering us?" I asked, getting frustrated. It was driving me crazy! I was feeling strangely protective over Max. And now I couldn't figure out what was hurting her.

"Well, we'll just go to my house tomorrow and question her about it. We won't let her leave until she tells us. Everything will be fine." Iggy said. "Meanwhile, we need to go home. We'll see you guys later." He and the kids waved goodbye as they walked away.

"I'm going to my room." I told Nudge. "Come get me when dinner's ready." I ran up to my room and grabbed my phone.

_ Why won't u tell me what's wrong? :(_ I sent Max the text and waited for her reply.

_ I can't._

I frowned at her reply. _Why not?_

_It's complicated._

Now I was scowling. _Haven't we already done this? Just tell me._

_Fang, please just drop it. I just…can't tell you, alright?_

_R u afraid we'll get hurt?_

_It's none of ur business. Just leave me alone._

_Why can't you tell me?_

I was starting to get frustrated. She was so stubborn! "Fang! Dinner's ready!" Nudge called.

"Coming!" I called back. Max never answered my text.

**Alright guys, review and tell me what you think! I need more reviews! I want all of your opinions.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Alright guys, review and tell me what you think! I need more reviews! I want all of your opinions.**

**AN: I need reviews on this story people. I don't own Maximum Ride. Here's chapter 5!**

(Fang's POV)

We brought Max over to Iggy's house, just like we planned yesterday. "So, why are we in here again?" Max asked as we walked into Iggy's room. Suddenly this revolting smell entered my nose. "We all know that your room smells like dirty feet."

"Max, we need to have a serious talk." Iggy said, sitting down on his bed. The rest of us sat down around the room. Max remained standing. She'd stiffened when Iggy said that.

"You make it sound like an intervention." she said, rolling her eyes. "What do we need to talk about?"

"Fang told us that you were hurt pretty bad yesterday, and that you admitted it wasn't from a fight." Iggy said.

"I didn't say it wasn't form a fight." Max said.

"But you lied to us. Why?" Nudge said.

"I'm not lying. I told you that I got it in a fight." she said.

"But you told me yesterday that you couldn't tell me who it was because it was complicated." I reminded her.

"It _is_ complicated." she insisted.

"How is a fight complicated? Just tell us what's going on Max!" Iggy yelled, exasperated. It went on like this for hours on end, all of us arguing with each other. Angel and Gazzy were actually starting to look pretty scared. Max was getting more and more frustrated.

"What time is it?" Max asked suddenly, looking nervous.

Iggy was surprised, but checked his watch. "Almost 8:30." he replied.

Max swore, which surprised all of us. She would never do that in front of the kids. "I've got to get home." Max said.

"Why?" Iggy asked.

"My dad doesn't like it when I'm at your house." Max said, running out the door. Iggy looked shocked.

"I think we should go to my house and try to sort all this out." I said.

"Why you're house?" Iggy asked.

"Because it's right next door to her house." I said, getting up. We pretty much ran to my house and up to my room. I opened up the glass door to my balcony. It was stuffy in my room!

"So, she's obviously hiding something important from us." Iggy said.

"But what could she be hiding from us?" Angel asked, sounding worried.

"Who knows?" I said. "Whatever she's hiding from us, she must've been doing a good job at it."

Suddenly, we heard a loud crash outside. We all jumped up and ran out onto the balcony. My eyes widened at what I saw. Max's dad had actually _thrown_ her through the glass doors to the balcony, and now he was punching and kicking her like crazy. Max looked up and our eyes met. In hers were pain, sorrow, hatred, and in mine I'm sure there was shock, horror. Suddenly, she got this determined look in her eyes.

Max stood and slammed into her dad, sending them back into the room. I heard a gasp behind me and turned to see my mom staring at Max in horror, Angel and Gazzy beside her. They'd done the right thing by getting her. "Call the police." I told her. "Iggy, come with me." And with that, me and Iggy took off down the stairs, out my door and into Max's.

When we got up to her room, Max had really started fighting back against Jeb **(AN: He's known Max for awhile, that's how he knows Jeb's name)**. She slammed him into the wall. Suddenly, his foot shot out, kicking her feet out from under her. She hit the ground and me and Iggy stepped in.

I sucker-punched Jeb, watching his head snap to the side. Iggy kicked him in the stomach. We kept hitting him, until Iggy accidently shoved him a little too hard. He fell and smacked his head the corner of Max's dresser. Iggy was about to go after him again when Max wrapped an arm around his shoulders. He looked at her in surprise.

Max smirked at us. "Thanks for coming guys." she said. Then she frowned. "But you two are still in _major_ trouble."

Iggy grinned. "When am I not in trouble?" he asked. Max laughed. Meanwhile, I was looking over her. She was already getting several new bruises. There was a gash on her face that was clearly made by a knife. It was pretty deep, and would surly leave a scar. She had several cuts from when she was thrown through the glass door.

Max noticed me and smirked. "I'm fine, Fang. Trust me, I've had worse." she said.

My eyes hardened. "Jeb has done worse to you?" I asked, practically growling. "What could he have done that was worse?"

"He broke my arm once. But I wasn't exactly talking about Jeb." she said, her eyes getting darker.

"What do you mean?" Iggy asked.

She took a shaky breath. "Alright, no more secrets, but I'm not discussing it here."

Suddenly, we heard a crash from downstairs. Four officers came rushing up the stairs, pointing guns. All three of us shot our hands up into the air, yelling "Don't shoot!"

"What happened here?" the officers asked, noticing Jeb lying on the ground unconscious.

Max quickly stepped up. "This is my dad. He's abusive. He was beating me when Iggy and Fang came over to help me out." she said. She talked to the officers for thirty minutes. I'm not even kidding. She told them everything. The more I heard, the angrier I got. She was putting up with this for two years!

"But Max," Officer Smith, this big potbellied officer, said, "if you could've fought him yourself, why didn't you?"

"Jeb threatened my friends. He said that if I ever tired anything or told my friends, he'd deal with them. I wasn't about to call his bluff. After all, if he could beat his daughter without feeling a thing, imagine what he could do to the people he doesn't know." she grumbled.

"Alright, we should really take you to the hospital, and him to jail." Officer Smith said.

"Uh, the hospital isn't really necessary." Max said. "I'll be fine. I don't have any injuries that aren't easily treatable. I can do it myself." She looked pretty nervous.

"Well, do you have any relatives you can stay with?" Officer Smith asked. He'd done all the talking so far.

"No sir, there isn't." she replied.

Officer Smith looked surprised. "No mother?" he asked.

Max looked away. "I never knew my mom." she replied. "Jeb might be able to tell you who she was, but I never even knew her name."

"She can stay at our house." I said quickly. "We've adopted before, and I'd hate for her to have to go into foster care. I'll call my mom and ask her if it's alright."

Max looked surprised, but Officer Smith nodded to me. I called my mom and walked away from them, out onto the balcony, carefully avoiding the glass. I looked over and could see the others looking at us with concerned looks. I grinned when I could see my mom answer my phone. "Hey Mom." I said. "Look, Max needs a place to stay, and I was wondering if she could live with us. You know, since we've adopted before."

"Oh…of course." she said. "Just bring her over whenever you guys are done. Tell her that we are fine with her living with her."

"Thanks mom, I'll be sure to tell her." I said. I hung up and walked back over to Max and the officers. "She said that it would be fine." I told them. "I better take her home. Since we need to get her home so we can bandage her up."

Max smiled at the officers. "I'll grab my stuff tomorrow." she said. "Thank you so much for coming out."

"No problem." Officer Smith said as two of the other officers carried a still-unconscious Jeb. Max nodded as me and Iggy escorted her over to our house.

"Max, don't ever hide anything like that from us again." I said firmly.

Iggy nodded. "And don't forget, you promised to tell us everything."

Max took a deep breath. "I know." she said, looking both of us in the eye before walking into my house, and up to my room.

**AN: Alright guys, I need reviews! Tell me what you think!**


	6. Chapter 6

**AN: I don't own Maximum Ride. Here's the next chapter! Hope you guys like it!**

(Max's POV)

"Spill." Fang said after his mom bandaged me up. "You said you'd tell us everything, so talk."

I sighed. Well, here goes nothing. "First, for you to understand the whole story, I have to show you something." I told them, looking each one of them in the eye. This only confused them more. I stood up and took off my jacket, letting it fall to the ground **(AN: It's one of those ¾ length sleeve jackets, that's how Fang saw new bruises in the last chapter.)**. I slowly and painfully extended my wings. They were slightly injured when Jeb threw me through the glass door.

The others gasped and stared. I shifted uncomfortably. I was kind of hoping they'd never find out about my wings, or Jeb. I knew it was just wishful thinking, but still. It would have been better if they didn't know.

"Max…what is this?" Nudge asked.

"They're my wings. There used to be this place called the School. I know it's a horrible name for an evil place, but, believe me, it was hell on earth. They were a bunch of whitecoats, as I call them, that worked with genetic mutation. But they didn't keep their experiments to animals, not that I agree with that either, but they took it a step further. Combing animal and human DNA to create a super being. I was the first, and only, successful experiment in my division. Combing avian DNA with human DNA.

"What they ended up with was a girl with wings. I also have air sacks, like an actual bird. My lungs are bigger, my bones lighter. And I have to eat a lot more than a normal human. A minimum of 3000 calories a day. Despite all of this, they considered me a success. They kept me in a dog cage, doing horrible, painful experiments, many of which I still have scars for today.

"But I got it somewhat easy. There were other experiments, failed experiments, that, if you saw them, would haunt you for life. Growing up, it was normal seeing these things. I won't go into detail, but let's just say that I've taken the phrase, 'I've seen it all' to a whole new level.

"At first, Jeb was a lot better than the other scientists. They enjoyed doing these experiments to us. But he never seemed to. When I was ten, Jeb and I escaped. Just in time to. The School was found out a week later. The government arrested the whitecoats, and shut down the School. The other experiments were taught how to live in society without their secret getting out. Jeb moved down here with me.

"At first, it was great. Jeb would actually let me fly whenever I wanted to, and started acting like a real dad. But then, he started drinking. Then he started hitting me. In the beginning, he just hit me when he was drunk, but it soon started happening in the middle of the day, when he hadn't had a drop of alcohol. I would've told someone earlier, but Jeb threatened that if I told anyone, he'd hurt you guys. If he could beat his own daughter inches away from death, then who knows what he'd do to you guys." I finished my speech. I'd left out so much more. I'd just given them the edited version.

"So, is Jeb your biological father?" Iggy asked.

I nodded. "But I only knew Jeb. He never mentioned my mother. Not even her name. He said that they weren't married, but I think he was lying. It's either that or he wasn't telling me the whole story." I said.

Fang reached out and stroked one of my wings, being surprisingly gentle. "When did your dad start drinking?" Fang asked.

I thought back. "I think it was around…four years ago, so when I was about twelve." I replied.

"So you haven't flown since?" he asked surprised. I guess it made sense. I'm sure if he had wings he'd want to fly all the time. I do too, it's just that I couldn't.

I shook my head. "It was strange. He just came into my room one night. I was about to go for a fly, but he just started hitting me, yelling at me that I wasn't allowed to fly anymore. I think that he felt guilty about the wings. That was something he wasn't familiar with, so he didn't want to deal with it." I shrugged. "So I just hid my wings, only stretching them out sometimes."

"Isn't that uncomfortable?" Fang's mom asked, looking just as curious as everyone else. She came up and started stroking the same wing that Fang was. It actually felt really good. My wing involuntarily stretched out more, giving them more room to stroke it.

"Very much so. To me, flying is like…breathing. It's just natural for me to be in the air. It makes me feel better. I guess it's like…well, shopping for Nudge, or bomb building for Iggy and Gazzy." I said, glaring at Fang and his mom when they both smirked at the fact that my wing, _involuntarily_, moved.

"So, why didn't you just sneak flying?" Angel asked.

I shrugged. "I did. Jeb found out. He beat me within an inch of my life." I grumbled.

"Are you sure you shouldn't go to the hospital?" Fang's mom asked.

I stiffened. "No." I said. "No hospitals, please." I couldn't stand hospitals. It was the whitecoats fault. The School always smelt like antiseptic, and other hospitally crap. Ever since then, any place that smelt like antiseptic made me want to climb up the walls. I also got nervous around anyone with a white coat on. "It reminds me a lot of the School."

She nodded in understanding. "Well, you can go flying now, if you want." she said.

I shook my head. "My wings are a little sore. You know, from the glass door." I said, gesturing out of Fang's glass door to my own shattered one.

"Right. Well, I'll be downstairs. Just tell me if you need anything at all." she said, giving me a kind smile.

"Your mom is awesome." I told Fang and Nudge. "I think there are very few moms who would see my wings and act as calm as she did."

He chuckled. "Yeah, she's awesome."

"So, that's it." I said. "No more secrets. Promise." I held up my right hand as I said this.

"You should have told us earlier." Gazzy said.

"Probably," I agreed, "but I didn't want you guys to get hurt."

Iggy checked the time. "Crap! It's almost ten! We need to get back home." he said. Gazzy and Angel ran up and hugged me.

"Bye Max." they said in unison. Iggy walked up to me next. He surprised me by also giving me a hug.

"Thanks for telling us." he whispered in my ear.

"No problem." I whispered back. "Sorry I didn't tell you at first."

They left after that. "Goodnight." Nudge said, hugging me too.

"'Night." I replied.

"Do you feel better now?" Fang asked me.

I gave him a tired smile. "Yeah. A little. So where do I sleep?" I asked.

"You can either sleep in my room or the guest room. I'll sleep in whichever one you choose." he said. I chose to sleep in the guest room. They were kind enough to let me stay at their house, I didn't want to kick him out of his room. I wasn't comfortable in new places, so I didn't think I'd fall asleep easily. Turns out, I fell asleep almost as soon as my head hit the pillow.

(Fang's POV)

I walked into the guest room to check on Max. She was already asleep. She seemed truly peaceful in her sleep, and she was even smiling a little. She was so beautiful. I bent down and kissed her forehead, leaving my lips there longer than necessary. I don't know what happened, but I do know she stole my heart. I don't really know when, I just know she did. If only she _knew_ that though. What would she do?

**AN: Oohh, cliffy. Alright guys. I need you to review! I want suggestions, or whether you guys liked the chapter, or whatever! **


	7. Chapter 7

**AN: Ello. I don't own Maximum Ride. So…here's the next chapter. Hope you like it. And I'm **_**soooooo**_** sorry that I haven't updated in a while. I've been busy over the past couple of days and it's just been one thing after another.**

(Fang's POV)

I sighed as I sat on the couch, bored out of my mind. Max came into the room and sat down next to me. She sat there for a minute, her hands clasped together, her arms resting on her knees. I stared at her wings. She'd let them out a lot more. It was pretty funny, actually. She didn't keep them hidden under her shirt, so she'd walk into a room. It was especially funny when you'd see them twitch, or involuntarily move and she'd look behind her with a _Did-I-do-that?_ look on her face.

They were amazing, and surprisingly soft. Absent-mindedly, I reached out and stroked one. Max's wing involuntarily opened a little. I moved my hand over to scratch her favorite spot, the place where her wing and shoulder met. I'd figured this out the day after she started living with us.

Max instantly relaxed and she sighed contentedly. "So, what's all the sighing about?" she asked me.

I sighed again. "I'm bored." I replied, scowling at the TV. Which, of course, had nothing good on. _Nothing_. Out of, like, 500 channels.

Max studied me for a second. "I was just about to go flying." she said. "Would you like to come with me?"

I stared at her. "Can you do that?" I asked.

She smiled. "I'm a lot stronger than a human. But you are heavier than me, so we'll probably just go for half an hour or so."

I grinned. "Sure. I'd love to." I said. I followed her up to my room. She stepped onto the balcony, then onto the rail. She jumped off, her powerful, mutant bird-kid legs sending her ten feet into the air. Her wings beat powerfully. It was amazing. In the five days she'd been here, I'd never seen her take off.

"Get onto the railing." she said. She was hovering above me, her hands in her pockets and looking at me expectantly. I stood up on the railing. Without warning, she swooped down behind me and wrapped her arms around my waist. "Jump off." she said, right in my ear. I did as I was told and was scared out of my mind when I started dropping. Max was calm though. She just wrapped her arms tighter around me and kicked off of the balcony before we dropped by it. The extra thrust helped her get us into the air. Her powerful wings did the rest.

Let me tell you, it was amazing. We were high over the city. It looked awesome with all of the lights. The rush of adrenaline had me grinning. It felt great. She flew quickly, and we ending up landing on the top of the H in the Hollywood sign. She looked at me expectantly, smirking. "So, how was it?" she asked knowingly, like she already saw the answer on my face.

I grinned. "It was awesome! Amazing! I mean, the rush of adrenaline, the sights…" I trailed off as I realized I was showing emotion. And talking. Max looked a little shocked too, but then she grinned.

"Welcome to my world." she said, her eyes shining with amusement. We stayed up there for awhile. Max looked at her watch and her eyes widened. "Crap. Where does the time go these days?" she mumbled.

I glanced at my own watch. It was eleven. We'd been out here for three hours. "I'd better get us back home. Wouldn't want your mom to worry." she said. I walked over to the edge of the sign and looked down. Dang, these things were big. I felt Max's arms around my waist and then we were falling. Startled, it took everything I had to hold back a very un-Fang-like yelp.

Her powerful wings caught us before we'd dropped thirty feet and she was in total control again. But this whole experience had made me realize something. I loved her. Max. Maximum Ride. I mean, I knew before that I liked her, but I wouldn't have said loved. But she's just so beautiful, graceful, and…different. Not just with the wings, but her personality. She was different from every girl I'd ever met. And I couldn't help but pray she felt the same way about me.

We landed on the balcony. Not very gracefully, might I add. I looked back at Max, who was panting some, trying to hide how tired she really was. "You okay?" I asked.

"You speak complete sentences?" she countered. "You're heavy. What the heck have they been feeding you?"

"What are you talking about?" I asked in a mock-offended tone. "This is 100% muscle." I gestured to myself.

"Yeah, and 10% fat." she replied, poking my abs.

I rolled my eyes. "You must really suck at math. Even _I_ know that doesn't make any sense." I countered.

She shrugged. "Either way, you're heavy."

"But we can do that again, right?" I asked, putting on a fake pout. Do you see what this girl is doing to me?!

She smiled at me. Not a smirk, but an actual smile that made my breath hitch and my heart speed up. "Of course." she said. Suddenly, like she couldn't hide it anymore, her eyelids drooped. "But I really am tired. Maybe tomorrow." she said, walking out my door and to the guest room.

"Goodnight, Max." I said.

I saw the corner of her mouth lip in a smile as she stopped at her door. "Goodnight, Fang." she replied, walking into her room.

I stripped to my boxers and lay down in bed, but I couldn't go to sleep. Amazingly, I wasn't at all tired. I just laid in bed, remembering the sensation of flying. That is, until I heard a faint noise. I looked over at the clock. It'd been half an hour since Max and I came back. I listened closely. It sounded like struggling. I quickly leapt out of bed and opened my door as quietly as I could. I stuck my head out and listened. It was coming from Max's room.

Horrible images of the night that we figured out Jeb was beating Max flashed through my head. Jeb throwing her through the glass door. Jeb punching her over and over, calling her names I don't dare repeat. I wouldn't let him do that to her again. Ever again.

I quickly made my way to her room, opening her door quietly so I could take whoever it was by surprise. I stepped into the room and expected to find Max struggling against Jeb, fighting with all of her strength. Instead, I found her in bed, her head swinging in agitation. Her wings were twitching and jerking, like in her dream she was struggling to fly away from something. She was lying on her stomach (She'd explained to us that lying on her back was uncomfortable with her wings, so she had to lie on her stomach or her side.) and her hands were clutched in fists, which kept jerking, probably as she punched someone's lights out in her dream.

I walked over to her and grabbed her shoulder, shaking it gently. "Max, wake up." I whispered comfortingly. Max's eyes snapped awake. She grabbed my arm and flipped over. She twisted my arm until I was forced to turn around. She almost popped my arm out of its socket. "Max, stop! It's me!" I gasped in pain.

Max jerked and let go of me as if I'd burned her. "Sorry!" she said, looking really guilty. "It's just…you startled me." I noticed she was blushing, and realized I was still in my boxers. Whoops.

"Yeah, I can tell." I said, trying to distract her from the fact that I was half-naked.

She gave me a look. "What are you doing up? And in my room?"

I sighed. "I couldn't sleep. I heard some noises in here. I was afraid that Jeb had sneaked in or something, so I came running in here. You were having a nightmare, so I decided to wake you up." I said.

She shifted uncomfortably. "Thanks." she said, turning on her side to face away from me and pulling the covers back up.

I hesitated. "Do you want me to stay?" I asked.

"No." she lied. But I could see right through her. I got on the bed and nudged her. "Make some room." I ordered, then remembering she didn't follow orders, added, "Please."

Instead, she laid on her back so she could look at me, despite how uncomfortable it was on her wings. "Fang, I thought I said no." she told me, raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah, but you didn't mean no. What you meant when you said no is 'Yes, I would like you to stay because I just had a terrifying nightmare, but I'm too stubborn to ask for your help.' So, I decided that you didn't have to ask." I said, nudging her again.

She studied me for a minute, then reluctantly moved over. She flipped onto her side, this time facing me. "What was it about?" I asked. She stayed silent. "Jeb?" She shook her head, and surprised me when she buried her face in my chest. I racked my brain for another explanation. I remembered the first night she showed us her wings, the place she got them from. "The School?" I tried. What a lame name, by the way.

She stiffened and I knew I'd hit the mark. I wrapped a comforting arm around her. "They were doing an experiment on me." she mumbled, seeming to melt at my touch. Some part in the back of my mind wondered if that meant she felt the same way that I did. Then another part reminded that part that this wasn't the time to think about that.

"What kind of experiment?" I asked. She shook her head, not looking at me, her head still buried in my chest. "What kind of experiment?" I repeated, firmer this time.

She sighed. "They wanted to see how many Erasers it took to tear me apart limb from limb." she replied. "It's not that big of a deal."

"Yes, it is. That horrible." I said, disgusted with those idiots who would torture such a selfless, caring person, even if she wouldn't admit that that was what she was. I squeezed her shoulder. "Go to sleep." I murmured.

"You won't leave?" she asked.

"Nope. I promise." I said. I felt her smile against me. Her breathing gradually deepened, and I knew she was asleep. I just watched her for the longest time, before I fell asleep, watching over my angel.

**AN: There you go! Sorry if Max and Fang are a little out-of-character in this one. I kind of wanted to show their softer sides. And again, sorry about not updating for so long. Review and tell me what you think!**


	8. Chapter 8

**AN: Hello peoples! I have to take my driver's test tomorrow. Wish me luck! Oh, and I don't own Maximum Ride. You guys are awesome!**

(Fang's POV)

"So, why didn't Max come with us again?" Nudge asked. All of us except for Max were coming back from shopping. Nudge had found this three day sale at one of her favorite stores. Apparently, she thought that meant she had to come back each day.

"Because she said that if she had to spend one more day shopping, she's going to strangle you." Angel said. It was weird. She said such a harsh-sounding sentence in such an innocent way. Note to self: Angel might not be as innocent and angelic as she seems.

"Why couldn't I stay home with her?!" Iggy said. Gazzy and I nodded in agreement.

"Well, Max told us that Fang had to watch over us, and he dragged you two along." Nudge said.

"When did it become my job to watch over you two?" I grumbled.

"Because Gazzy is too young and Iggy is too irresponsible." Nudge said. At Iggy's protests, she raised her hands defensively and added, "That was in her own words."

We saw mom pull into the driveway as we walked up to her house. "I thought you were staying home with Max." Nudge said as we walked up to her.

"I had to go to the grocery store. I had to get–" She was cut off by a crash inside that sounded suspiciously like glass breaking. We all rushed inside and were shocked at what we found. One of our lamps was currently on the floor in about a hundred pieces. Standing beside it was Max, so it was obvious that someone had thrown it at her. But it was the someone that shocked us.

The thing was at least six feet tall. It had this wolf man body shape, with the fur, fangs, and claws. It was huge and growling at Max like it wanted to bite her head off. Max was glaring right back at him, although hers was more frightening. Was this another experiment? _Duh, Fang, that's kind of obvious_, I thought to myself.

The things head snapped around when we burst in through the door. It grinned at us, showing off its fangs. I saw the others shiver out of the corner of my eye, and it took everything I had to keep a blank look on my face.

"Well, well, well Maxie. Who are these idiots?" he said. His voice sounded wrong, all guttural.

"Does it matter?" Max asked. When the thing didn't answer, Max snapped her fingers. "Hey, Dog Boy, pay attention. I thought dogs were supposed to be loyal and obedient."

The thing growled and launched himself at her. Max jumped out of the way, hitting him in the back with a kick. He only staggered forward a couple of steps. And Max had given him a kick that should have crushed a normal human's spine into powdery white dust. Max quickly backed out of his reach as he took a swipe at her with his claws.

"Come on, Ari, just give it up. You and I both know you can't beat me. I've got seven years more experience than you." Max said, sounding bored.

Ari gave her a feral grin and slowly walked towards her. When he got to close, Max started to move back, towards the kitchen. "That might be true, Maxie, but I'm bigger, faster, and stronger than you are. I'm the big bad wolf, and you're just the little defenseless birdie."

Suddenly, he lunged, so fast my eyes couldn't follow him. He grabbed Max by the shirt and threw her across the room. She landed on the table and it broke underneath her from the force of the blow. We heard all the breath knocked out of her lungs with a _whoosh!_ She got her breath back and stood up again.

"Thanks to you, Dad's in jail now. I'll save him the trouble of putting you in the grave." Ari said, stepping closer to Max.

Max smirked at him, but it was dark, nothing like the one she usually gave us. "What? You think killing me will make Daddy like you better?" she asked in a voice like she was talking to a little kid. Then her voice changed as she snapped, "You can have him. Batchelder isn't any father of mine."

Ari punched her in the stomach and the breath left her again, this time with an _oof!_ Max kicked his legs out from under him and moved out of the way. "How can you say that?! He gave up everything for you! He gave up _me_ for you! His only son, with his actual wife!" he yelled at her as he picked himself back up.

"Yeah, after he turned both of his kids into mutant freaks! At least I was born a mutant freak! He turned you into one! You were born a normal little boy who would have had a great life, until he turned you into a hairy freak!" Max yelled back.

"You might be my sister, but you're nothing like me." Ari growled. I saw the others jaws drop and felt my eyes widen a fraction of an inch.

"Yeah, that's because, whoever my mom is, I'm more like her than Batchelder. And you're the same way. Why can't you see that he's a backstabbing (insert swear word of your choice here)? Ari, you're going on a worthless goose chase for nothing." Max said. Her voice was more gentle now, but still firm, like how she'd talk to Angel or Gazzy. "You should've stayed with the government."

Ari growled and slammed into Max again. They crashed into the wall leaving a dent in it. Ari punched Max in the gut three hard times. On the third one, we heard a loud, horrible _crack!_ The sound of one or more of Max's ribs breaking.

Max kneed him in the stomach, trying to get out from between him and the wall. "Leave her alone!" Iggy yelled. Ari turned to face us. We were about to get in the fight when Max kicked him from behind, sending him crashing to the ground from the unexpected blow. He must've forgotten she was back there.

"Stay out of this!" Max growled, her voice slightly strained. "This isn't like Jeb! He'll break you in half like a twig!"

Ari stood back up. Max punched him hard in the gut, then smacked her hands over his ears. Ari howled in pain as his ear drums burst. Max shoved him back and he hit the counter. He reached out for something, then turned and charged at Max, again too fast for me to track. Max tried to get out of the way, but Ari ended up slamming her into a wall.

Max's eyes widened in shock and then she coughed up blood. _What the…?_ Ari moved back and grinned down at her. A butcher knife was in Max's side, blood already blooming on her shirt. Max slide down the wall, leaving a trail of blood behind her. She grimaced in pain and looked up at Ari with shock in her eyes. I looked over at the counter and felt my shoulders slump. The butcher knife was missing from the knife rack. When Max pushed him into the counter…

"Looks like brawn actually beats brains." he sneered. Suddenly, Max slammed into him, a last ditch effort to get him down for the count. He fell back and his head smacked the counter. There was the sickening _crack_ as he fell. His head lolled to the side at a wrong angle. Max stared at him in shock, then looked away, looking like she was going to be sick.

Max took out her phone and tossed it to me. "There's a number in there…Victoria. She's a doctor who knows about the wings. I trust her." she said, her breathing labored. "Just tell her I need her help."

I handed the phone to Mom and rushed to Max. I took off my jacket and pressed it around the knife wound. Max sucked in a breath and whimpered. "I'm sorry." I murmured. "I'm so sorry, but I have to." Max nodded. She was starting to drift out of consciousness. Even after she was fully unconscious and leaning against me, I didn't let up on the pressure I was putting on her wound. I knew that, if I did, she'd bleed to death.

Victoria showed up in less than ten minutes. I took Max and went with her to Victoria's house, where all of her "special" doctor equipment was. The others stayed behind, saying they'd take care of the house and Ari and that I was to give them updates regularly. Victoria swerved into her driveway and I held onto Max tight. The speedometer hadn't gone under sixty the whole ride. I don't blame her though.

We quickly took Max inside, and then I was ordered to wait in the living room. This is torture. The girl I'm in freaking love with got stabbed by some insane, wolf-man beast, and now I don't know if she's okay or not.

An hour passed before Victoria came out. I shot up off the couch. "How is she?" I asked. I can't believe I was actually letting my emotions show. What was this girl doing to me?

"Relax, Fang, she's going to be fine." Victoria said, smiling.

"Thank God." I said, flopping back down on the couch. I sunk into it. "Geez, I'm going to kill that girl."

Victoria smirked. "I think there's something else you want to do too." she said. **(AN: Not like that, people. Get your mind out of the gutter.)**

I glared at her, but didn't deny it. "When will she wake up?" I asked her, worried.

Victoria smiled. "Probably in a hour or so." she said, giving me a knowing smile and a wink before she walked towards the kitchen.

I went into the room Max was in and sat down. I grabbed Max's hand. I was determined to stay by her side until she woke up, at the very least.

**AN: There, that wasn't a bad cliff. Alright, I don't think this chapter is very good. Review and tell me what **_**you**_** think. Please review and tell me. I wanted to put Ari in there, but I wasn't sure how to write it. Hope this is good enough! Review!**


	9. Chapter 9

**AN: Ello everybody! You guys are awesome and thanks for the reviews! I just have one request. Review even more! Alright, I'll do what you want now. Shut up and get on with the chapter. And I don't own Maximum Ride.**

(Max's POV)

I groaned as I woke up. "Oh Geez." I said, my voice hoarse. I tried to sit up, but stopped and hissed a breath when pain exploded in my side.

"Max!" a voice yelled right in my ear.

I flinched at the loud noise, my pounding migraine getting even worse. "Ow." I moaned.

"Sorry." the voice said again. I finally recognized it as Fang's. I opened my eyes and saw Fang and the others staring at me worriedly, even Rachel (Fang's mom) and Tori **(AN: For those of you that didn't figure it out, that's what Max calls Victoria)**. "Are you alright?" Fang asked, his voice strained patience.

"I'm fine." I grumbled, sitting up slowly this time.

"Good, then I won't feel bad about this. Are you insane? Who was that guy? I thought there wasn't going to be any more secrets! You almost _died_, Max! And why didn't you tell us that you had a brother!" he whisper-yelled. Probably to avoid hurting my head again.

"I probably am mildly insane, that was my little brother Ari, and I didn't tell you about him because I didn't even know if he was alive or not. I didn't think there was a reason to. I mean, I didn't even think that you would ever meet him." I replied calmly, leaning against the pillows.

"Wait. Little brother? And isn't that kind of cold?" Nudge asked.

I sighed. "He was an Eraser. Unlike other Erasers, he was actually born human. Jeb changed him into an Eraser. He's actually only nine years old. But the Eraser genes changed him. It made him big, bulky, and wild looking. So basically he was a nine year old in an early twenty-year-old body. Its screwed up, but, then again, everything the School did was screwed up." I said, rubbing my temples as I explained.

"And you didn't even know if he was alive or not? That must've been rough." Iggy said.

I nodded. "Jeb didn't take him with us. He never told me why. No matter what Ari though, I always thought about him, hoping he was okay and that he was getting the life he deserved. The life Jeb and the other whitecoats ripped away from him." I shook my head. "It's screwed up." The others nodded in agreement. I looked up at Tori. "When can I get out of here? I hate the smell of antiseptic. Blech." I said, making a disgusted face.

"In two days. And I mean two days, Max. No less." Tori replied, giving me a stern look.

"You know me to well." I sighed, giving her a playful glare.

"Alright, guys, let's get out of here and let Max rest up. She needs plenty of rest if she's going to recover." Tori said.

The others got up and left, except for Fang. He hesitated, not wanting to leave me alone. As he was turning away, I grabbed his sleeve. "Don't go." I said, just loud enough for him to hear. He subtly nodded and turned to Rachel.

"I don't feel comfortable leaving Max alone. I'll stay and watch her. Knowing her, as soon as we leave the room, she'll be up and moving. Against the doctor's orders." he said, smirking at me. I rolled my eyes.

His mom hesitated, but then nodded. Geez, did anyone trust me enough to be alone?! Fang sat beside me. "Why did you want me to stay?" he asked gently.

I shuddered. "The freaking antiseptic smell. It reminds me too much of the School. Makes me antsy." I replied.

Fang nodded. "Do you want to talk about it?" he asked, even gentler than before. I didn't have to ask what he was talking about.

"There isn't anything to talk about. I killed my own little brother and am the worst big sister in the world. End of story." I said bitterly.

Fang sighed. "It was either you or him. You might not have been fighting to the death, but he was. He was determined to kill you. And, personally, I'm glad you chose you." He grabbed my hand and squeezed it as he said the last part.

I sighed. "He was still my little brother, Fang. All these years of wondering if he was okay, or if he was happy, and then I kill him. I could've tried something-_anything_- to stop him, but instead I just go and snap his neck." I growled, disgusted with myself.

"You didn't mean to." he said quietly.

"I don't care what I didn't mean to do! The fact is I did it, and I'm just the monster that Jeb said I was and–" I was cut off as something warm pressed against my lips. Fang's scent surrounded me, and my brain shut off as he kissed me. Emotions and feelings that I'd never known I could have clashed in me. My fight or flight instinct tried to kick in, but my brain wasn't working right. I felt myself kissing him back. But, eventually, I pulled away. I did, after all, need to breathe.

"What was that for?" I asked a little breathlessly.

Fang gave me a firm, stern look. "You aren't a monster, and nothing Jeb said about you is true. You are an amazing girl. Beautiful, smart, talented, and different. Not a bad kind of different, but one that makes you unique. One that you stick to. It's you, and there isn't anything wrong with that. You didn't mean to kill Ari, and it wasn't your fault. You were both just at the wrong place at the wrong time. It was self-defense. Jesus, Max, he freaking _stabbed_ you! You could've _died_! I don't know what I'd do if I lost you."

The last part was a hoarse whisper, like just talking about it was like a punch in the gut to him. His expression turned pained.

"But…" I trailed off. I couldn't get my words right. I couldn't tell him how I felt, or how he could help. I couldn't tell him anything. I grabbed his shoulders and pulled him closer to me. My arms went around his torso and I buried my head where his neck and shoulder met. "He was my little brother." I whispered. My voice sounded choked as the tears started.

Fang stiffened, probably shocked that I was crying. But it seemed to be all I needed to say because he wrapped his arms around me and held me tight, like he wasn't ever going to let go. And I let him. I let myself be vulnerable for once. Because I was hurting and I needed someone to lean on and to help me. After all, I'd just snapped my own little brother's neck, and I didn't know how to handle it.

"Shh. It's going to be alright Max. I promise. You'll be out of here in two days, and then we'll give Ari a proper funeral, okay?" he told me gently. I just nodded, not looking up. Even when I was crying, I couldn't help but feel kind of embarrassed that Fang was seeing me like this.

Eventually, I didn't have any tears left to cry. I laid back against the pillows. Fang was watching me closely, like he was expecting me to shatter into a million pieces at any second. He still held onto my hand tight. And, for the first time in a long time, I felt completely safe.

**AN: Alright guys, sorry if this chapter is a little weird. I hope you guys like it and I promise I'll try to update sooner like I did before. I'm thinking about starting a new story, but I'll still be writing the ones I have now. Please review and tell me what you think about the chapter. More Fax? Less Fax? What do you guys want to happen next? Tell me anything and everything! I want to know what you guys are thinking and wanting to happen! Thanks! Peace out!**


	10. Chapter 10

**AN: Hello. I'm bored, so I decided to update this story. Seeing as I've left you guys hanging for four freaking days. Yeah, not cool. So, I don't own MR, and here's the chapter.**

(Fang's POV)

"I hate this. It's so depressing." Max murmured next to me. We were at the grave yard, burying Ari. Nudge, Angel, Tori, and Mom were wearing black dresses. Iggy, Gazzy, and me were wearing tuxes. Max was wearing black jeans and a black button-up shirt. It was short sleeved, with the cuffs flipped up. Max fidgeted next to me.

"Yeah. But it's pretty much a rule that you can't have fun at a funeral." Iggy said, trying to lighten the mood. It didn't work. The funeral guys brought Ari's body forward. Max grimaced, seeing his neck jutting out at an odd angle. I couldn't even begin to imagine what was going on through her head right now. I reached out and grabbed her hand. In the two days she'd been at the hospital, we'd eventually told each other how we felt. Now we were dating.

When it came time for Max to make a speech or something, she remained quiet. I guess it was understandable though. I mean, her relationship with Ari must have been very strained. But she still loved her brother. And she'd accidently killed him. That must be tough.

So, it was a very quiet funeral. Max was starting to look more and more depressed throughout the funeral. When it was over, she was having to hold back tears. I wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "It'll be alright." I murmured. "I promise."

"Yeah." she mumbled. She didn't look or sound convinced. She sighed. "Can we just go back home? My head is killing me." I nodded and led her to the car.

~La di da di da~

I walked into Max's room later that night. She was at her desk, leafing through papers in a file. Several similar files were sitting on the desk beside her. "Max, what are all of these?" I asked her, picking one up.

She jumped, obviously not hearing me, and spun around. She didn't relax when she saw that it was me. "Put that down." she growled, taking the file from me. "Trust me, you don't want to look at these."

I frowned. "Why not? You're looking at them." I stated. Then something hit me. "That's not anything illegal, is it?"

She sighed, sounding tired and frustrated. "Not exactly. It contains illegal information, but nothing that would get me in trouble. It would lengthen Jeb's sentence by quite a bit though." she murmured, closing the file that she'd been reading before I came in.

My eyes widened in recognition. "Those are from the School, aren't they?" I asked her.

"Yeah. They're old files Jeb took with him when we left. Most of them are…detail descriptions of experiments Ari and I had been through. Some tell exactly what they did to us to make us the mutant freaks we are." she said, glaring at the files, as if that would make all of it go away.

I grabbed a different file. "Fang!" she whisper-yelled in protest.

"I want to know what they did to you. And I have a feeling you aren't going to tell me." I said, moving out of her reach. Max suddenly stopped trying to get the file, sinking back in her chair and glaring at me in defeat. I moved beside the desk again before I started reading.

_Experiment 1-7_… "What is Experiment 1-7?" I asked.

"That's me." she mumbled. "It means the first to be mutated in the seventh batch. There were five kids in each batch. I was the only one out of all of them to survive."

I swallowed hard and nodded, whispering a sorry to her. You know, for reminding her. She just nodded and I continued to read. _Experiment 1-7, March 10__th__ 1999. Experiment was taken into the testing room and chained by her arms and legs. She was stretched to her limits to see her flexibility limit. Experiment ended up breaking the chains._ That was actually an edited version of it. The actual version was horrible, describing each moment…it sent shivers down my spine, and a white-hot rage throughout my body.

"This…this is…" I stuttered through my rage, not even able to come up with the right words.

"Horrible? In humane? Absurd?" Max supplied helpfully.

"Try all of the above and then some!" I growled. "How could they do this to people! Especially little kids!"

"Because to them, we weren't kids. We were there experiments. No better than animals. I guess they didn't think we could feel, despite our tears, screams, and curses. You should've seen the way they looked at us. Like they couldn't get enough. Like they were constantly studying us, waiting for us to do something amazing. Like they owned us and were watching us under a microscope." Max shuddered despite herself, her eyes distant with memories.

I pulled her up from the chair and held her tight. "You're never going back." I murmured. "Never. I won't let it happen. That's just…not right."

"They weren't concerned with what was right." Max mumbled, wrapping her arms around me after getting over her initial surprise. "They just wanted to see how far they could push us."

"Are there more of these?" I asked her, my voice strained with the rage and protectiveness I was still feeling.

Max nodded and pulled away, opening one of the drawers. It was filled with files. Then another. And another. And another. All of them were filled to the brink with files. It was insane. My knees gave out in shock and I collapsed on the bed, hard. "All of these?" I asked, my voice sounding shaky with shock. "Holy crap…"

Max smirked, but it was bitter and held no humor whatsoever. "I've been looking through these files. Ari's to be exact. I just wanted to figure out what exactly they did to him. If there was a reason he was so vicious. If it had something to do with the fact he wasn't born an Eraser. The only thing I found was that the lupine DNA that they gave him also gave him a major bloodlust. Which I already knew that. It gave all of the Erasers bloodlust." she murmured.

"These guys aren't coming back, right?" I asked.

Max's cold smirk dropped and she gave me an uncertain look. "I don't know."

"But, they were caught." I protested.

Max shook her head. "Not all of them. And many thought what they were doing was good for the world. The surviving members might try to reestablish the School." she said, her tone sour. "We just don't know for sure."

I was quiet for a minute. "It's getting late." Max said. "You should get some sleep."

I nodded. "They aren't going to get you." I told her, giving her a quick kiss on the cheek. "I promise."

"Don't make a promise if you don't know for sure if you can keep it." she mumbled, looking at me seriously. She gave me a quick kiss and ushered me out of her room before I could respond. I could keep that promise. She couldn't get taken away. Because I don't know what I'd do if she did.

**AN: Alright, this chapter was pretty much filler, so I'm sorry if you don't like it. But review anyways! Flames are used for s'mores! **


	11. Chapter 11

**AN: Again, sorry I haven't updated in so long. I'm not going to bother telling you my excuses because I'm sure you don't really care to hear them. So, here's the next chapter and I don't own MR.**

(Fang's POV)

I woke up at six a.m. I stumbled into the kitchen, and instantly noticed that Max wasn't in here. "Where's Max?" I asked. The conversation we had yesterday had made me paranoid.

"Relax, Fang, she just went out on a flight." Mom said.

I smiled. Max was always so much more relaxed when she was flying. It always helped cleared her head. I got breakfast for me and Max, and walked into her room to wait for her. Max smiled when she saw me waiting up for her. She slid open the balcony door and sat next to me, grabbing her breakfast.

Max sat next to me and started eating. "Where were you?" I asked her.

She shrugged. "Patrol. Ever since Ari came back, I figured it would be good idea to keep a look out for other experiments or whitecoats. Although it will be near impossible for any of them to find me."

I nodded. "Well, we have to go to school, so hurry up." I told her, leaving her room so I could get ready myself. Nudge met us downstairs, and we all went out to meet Iggy, Angel, and Gazzy. Max was strangely quiet this morning, just listening carefully to the kids conversation.

"Why are you so quiet this morning?" Iggy asked her. So I wasn't the only one who noticed. The others seemed a little surprised, but looked intently at her. She shrugged. "Tired." she replied.

"I think you're rubbing off on her." Nudge said to me. "She's not talking as much as she usually does. I blame you."

I ignored her and focused on Max. I raised an eyebrow. _Are you okay?_

She gave me a tired smile. _Fine, I just really am tired._

I felt my eyebrows crease some. _Are you going to be able to make it through the day?_

She nodded slightly, then broke eye contact, breaking off our connection. "I hate it when people do that." Angel said, frowning.

"Do what, sweetie?" Max asked.

"Have those silent conversations, because no one knows what they're talking about." she replied.

Max chuckled and gave her a knowing look. One that said _one day you're going to find someone and do the same exact things._ But she kept silent, only keeping her amused smile for a couple seconds before she frowned. I looked at her, trying to meet her eyes, but she was looking forward. I followed her gaze and saw a guy walking towards us.

He was the stereotypical creepy, mysterious guy. He had on a black hat, sunglasses, and a black trench coat, along with jeans and a dark green T-shirt.

"Maximum." he said, sounding surprised. "What are you doing here?"

"Jared." Max said, nodding her head in greeting, thought the frown still stayed on her face. "I live here."

He nodded, and then a grin unexpectedly lit up his face. "Well, I came to tell you the good news." he said. "I've been working with the F.B.I. We've caught a whole lot more whitecoats. So many, in fact, that the School can't get back together. Even if they did, it wouldn't be for another couple decades. So all you have to worry about for now is finishing high school."

Max's frown turned into a smirk. "You always were one of the more adventurous types." she said.

He shrugged, but then he scowled at her. "We really could've used your help out there." he said.

"I was needed here." she replied.

"Why?" Jared asked.

"Jeb had a bunch of files and things. Stuff he'd taken from the lab. The F.B.I. put me in charge of keeping an eye on him. If Jeb decided to turn bad again, he'd be able to get the School back together much faster than any of those other idiots." she said calmly.

"I heard that he did turn bad again." Jared said.

Max shrugged. "In a way."

"I'm going to take that as a 'I'm in a hurry and don't feel like talking about it, so you need to move on your merry little way,' and get out of here. It was good seeing you again Max. And, remember, we could always use your help." he said, starting to walk away from us.

Max reached out and grabbed his arm. "Tell the chief that I'm staying here, but I'll keep a look out for anything suspicious." she said. "Tell him he doesn't have to worry about this sector."

Jared nodded. "I still think you're wasting your talents here. I mean, why was such fighting expertise and ferocity on a bunch of bratty high schoolers when you could be putting the bad guys behind bars." he said grumpily.

Max shrugged. "I'm done using my 'talents'. I'll only end up getting somebody killed." she said, her eyes darkening, probably because she remembered Ari.

"Fair enough. Keep in touch, Max." Jared said. Our little group parted to make way for him.

"Max, who was that guy?" Gazzy asked.

"That was Jared Greens. He's an old friend of mine. Another experiment from the School. Both of us joined with the F.B.I after we escaped. He joined directly, but I contacted them another way, since Jeb would've killed me if he knew. I heard Jeb talk about a lot of his old work buddies. I gave the F.B.I a lot of targets to go after from the School. I haven't seen him in forever though. It was very rare that I ever saw someone from the F.B.I. The chief ordered me to keep an eye on Jeb and the surrounding area." she replied, watching the way the guy had come.

I sighed. "When are the secrets going to end?" I murmured.

"Who knows?" Max said, shrugging. "I couldn't tell you about the F.B.I thing. It endangers the organization, as well as myself and all of you. There are those who are very hateful towards F.B.I agents." She shook her head and ushered us on to school. All of these secrets were really starting to tick me off.

**AN: Sorry about the shortness. This chapter is pretty much just filler. I am having major writer's block. I don't know where to go next with this story. Review and give me suggestions if you want the story to continue! Please! Every suggestion will be carefully considered. Thanks so much!**


	12. Chapter 12

**AN: Hello, it's me again. For those of you that have red my other stories, don't worry, I will be updating them again very soon. I've got some homework, but I'm hoping to have all of my stories updated by the end of the weekend. Thanks for reading!**

(Fang's POV)

I shot awake in the middle of the night. _Max_, I thought. I ran to her room, a bad feeling overtaking me. I burst into her room. She was on the edge of her balcony, about to jump off. A bag was slung over her shoulder. She was leaving. "Max?" I said disbelief clear in my voice. I sounded hoarse, like I was trying not to just collapse into a crying ball.

Max's head whipped around to face me. "Fang." she said, surprised. "What are you doing here?"

"Where are you going?" I asked, ignoring her question. "Why are you leaving? Without saying goodbye? Do I not mean anything to you? Do the others mean nothing to you too?" I was whisper-yelling by the time I was done, hurt and betrayal in my voice.

A deep sadness entered her eyes and she stepped off the balcony, dropping her bag. She ran over to me and hugged me hard. "That's not how it is." she murmured.

I pulled away from her. "Then what's going on?" I asked her, fixing her with my hard gaze. She almost flinched. Almost.

She sighed. "I'm sorry. I got a call, from the Chief of the FBI agency. The School is trying to get back together. We have to strike now, while they're still weak. I can't let them do what they did to me to other kids. I won't allow it. If we strike now, we have a greater chance for success, and I won't have to be gone for as long. I'm sorry that I have to go, Fang, but I have to." she said, reaching out with one hand to cup my face, her eyes begging me to try to understand.

I sighed and pulled her closer, holding her tight. "You better come back. You better come back alive, because if you don't, I'm going to bring you back to life just so I can kill you all over again." I told her. "And you better not stay away for too long. The others are going to kill me for letting you go."

I felt her smile against my bare chest. I'd only warn my boxers and a light pair of pajama pants to bed. "Probably." she agreed. "I promise I'll come back. I don't know how long it'll be, but I'll come back."

"You better." I said, letting go and stepping back. Max looked like she wanted nothing else but to hold me longer, to never leave, but instead she grabbed her bag, jumped onto the windowsill, and flew off into the night. I couldn't sleep, so I just stayed up in bed, thinking about my girlfriend-gone-FBI agent. I stayed in her room for the rest of the night.

…………….._the next morning_……………….

"How could you let her go?" Iggy yelled at me. All of us were in the kitchen and I'd just told them the bad news. "She could _die_ out there, Fang! We're talking about the same people who tortured her for _years_!"

"Don't you think I know that?" I snapped. "Don't you think that those same things were crossing my mind as I let her go? But I couldn't stop her Iggy. It was just one of those things she had to do. I could tell. Even if I told her no, or tried to stop her, she would've gone anyways. You know Max. She's just stubborn like that." I was speaking much softer by the time I was done.

"He's right, you know." Angel told Iggy. "She's always been stubborn like that. When she puts her mind to something, she hardly ever gives it up until she's done with it.

"All we can do is wait for her to come home." Mom said.

"She _better_ come home." Iggy mumbled, he sat down heavily in a chair and rested his head against the kitchen table. The kids started to cry as it hit them that Max wasn't coming back soon. Mom was also crying, and even Iggy's shoulders were shaking as he quietly sobbed. I went up to my room and cried there, away from everyone else, in my own silent fashion. Not even Max has ever seen me cry, and I'm not going to change that.

…………….._one week later_…………..

What's taking her so long? I feel like I'm missing half of my body. I'm not motivated to do much anymore. My grades are slipping. I've been neglecting the others. What's wrong with me? I should be strong for Max. So that when she comes back home she'd know I took care of everything while she was gone. She wouldn't have to do anything when she got back.

I got up out of bed and went outside to play with the kids and keep an eye on them. _I'm going to make you proud, Max_, I thought as I walked over to the kids, ruffling Gazzy's hair. _I won't let them see how broken I am without you. I'll be their strength and their rock while you're gone, just like you were and still are. But please come home soon. I don't know how long I'll be able to keep myself motivated._

…………………._one month later_…………….

The others are starting to give up hope. But I'm not going to give up on you Max. I'm going to wait right here for you. And the first thing I'm going to do is take you in my arms and kiss you like never before, just to show you how much I love you. I'm not giving up on you, Max. Not now, not ever. I'll be right here. I'll be the first person you see when you come back home. I'll never give up hope. Because I don't know what I'd do if I lost you, and giving up my hope is like I'm voluntarily losing you. Like saying that I don't care if you get hurt or I'm not going to wait on you. But I will. I won't leave you behind.

**AN: Alright guys. I gave you a chapter, and now you must pay me in reviews! So REVIEW! Thank ye very much. *gives bow***


	13. Chapter 13

**AN: SOOOOOOO sorry for the late review guys. Long story short, my family from Colorado came down, I don't get to see them often, so there was a lot of family time. Okay, now, here's the chapter, and I don't own MR!**

(Fang's POV)

I was sitting in Max's room when it happened. It's been three months since she's left. Three brutal, heartbreaking, painful months. Then, she came flying down, landing on the balcony. She was exhausted and bloody. I ran over to the glass door and yanked it open.

"Max!" I cried, wrapping my arms around her. She collapsed against me, not able to hold herself up anymore. Her breathing was labored. I picked her up bridal style and sat down on the bed, my back resting against the headboard. I set her in my lap and pressed my lips to hers gently. She kissed me back for a second before pulling away and resting her head on my chest.

"Are you hurt?" I asked.

"Yeah, but I'll be fine." she answered. "I might have to get Tori to look at them though."

"The School?" I asked.

She smirked bitterly. "Gone." she replied. "For good this time. All of the people involved were taken to jail and sentenced to death row. Including Jeb. Turns out, he escaped from jail and no one bothered to tell us." she replied, rolling her eyes. Then her eyelids drooped. "I'm tired." she mumbled.

I looked at her worriedly. "I'm going to call Tori." I said. I grabbed the phone and dialed her number.

"Hello?"

"Hey Tori. It's Fang." I said.

"Oh, what can I do for you?" she asked hesitantly. I didn't usually call her.

"Max is back, but she's hurt. Can you come and take a look at her? Oh, and keep it on the down low. I don't think she can handle the others right now."

There was a pause on the phone as she took this all in. "I'll be right there." she said quickly and hung up.

"Goodbye to you too." I muttered, going back over to Max. She was trying hard not to fall asleep. "Max, is all of this blood yours?" I asked her, gesturing to her clothes. She nodded.

"Let me see your injuries." I said firmly.

She pulled her shirt up enough for me to see her stomach (She has a six-pack! Not one of those nasty ones, but a sexy one. Um…ignore that last statement.) I felt my eyes widen. She had four long, deep gashes on her side.

"I wasn't as far away as you might think. Just right upstate. I figured it would be faster to come here to Tori than go back to base." Max said, grimacing. "They had a bunch of Erasers. Those things are strong."

I quickly took my shirt off and pressed it to her wounds. She hissed in a breath. "Sorry." I murmured. "How much blood have you lost?"

"Some. Tori should have some. She'll bring it. She's always prepared." Max was speaking in shorter and shorter sentences. Every time she'd spoken, it had been strained, like it was an effort just to talk.

I nodded. "Now hush. You need to save your strength for healing, not talking." Max nodded in agreement and laid back down.

"Anymore injuries?" I asked after awhile, just to keep her awake.

She shook her head. "Just bumps and bruises." she murmured, clenching her jaw and whimpering slightly when I put a little more pressure on her wounds. That's when Tori came into the room. She ended up having to give Max a blood transfusion. She had some with her, just like Max said. She stitched up Max's side and cleaned all of her other scratches so that they wouldn't get infected before finally positioning her on her uninjured side. Max once told me that it was uncomfortable for her to lay on her back, because it put too much pressure on her wings.

I stayed with Max through the rest of the night, and told the others the next morning. All of us stayed by her side. She didn't wake up until two and a half days after she'd arrived.

(Max's POV)

I woke up groaning. "What ran over me?" I croaked out, grimacing at the sound of my own voice.

"Max!" I heard a bunch of voices yell behind me making me wince.

"Ow. Headache." I muttered. I carefully sat up and leaned against the headboard, despite the others protests. I rolled my eyes and lifted my shirt up enough to show them my stomach. The only thing left from my wounds were pink scars. I had a bunch of other ones too, and I could tell they were looking at these too. And they didn't seem to like how many I had.

"I'm fine guys. Well, except for a major migraine and feeling like I just got ran over by a bus, semi-truck, and elephant. And the fact that I'm starving." I replied.

Tori rolled her eyes and handed me a plate full of food, which I immediately began to scarf down. When I saw the others watching me like hawks, I smirked. "Mother hens." I teased.

Fang rolled his eyes. "Do you even _know_ how worried we were about you?" he asked with strained patience.

I frowned, then sighed. "I'm sorry, but I had to go. Even if I didn't want to, you never, _ever_ ignore an order from the Chief. You just don't." I replied.

"What happens if you do?" Gazzy said.

I shrugged. "The same thing that happens when a soldier runs away when the enemy attacks. We get majorly punished. It's not pretty." I told them. "The Chief is strict. Like, dictator strict. No one has _ever_ ignored an order from him. Not even me, and I don't follow orders."

"But the School is gone for good now? Like, they won't ever be back again?" Nudge asked.

I nodded. "They won't be back. The Chief is making sure of that. They were all thrown in jail, sentenced to death row, and their execution dates have been moved to the very front of the line. How long have I been out?"

"About two and a half days." Iggy said, glaring at me to show that he wasn't happy about it.

I frowned and looked at the wall across from me. "That means Jeb was yesterday." I murmured. I shook my head to clear it and started eating again. Anything to get my mind off Jeb. Recognition showed in the other's eyes, and they all looked sad.

"You mean…Jeb was sent to death row?" Rachel asked.

I nodded. "They figured out all of the stuff he did. Including the full story of what he did to me. The Chief was furious. Said something about not understanding how someone could do that to their kid. The Chief made sure he was the next to go up on death row." I grimaced. "He even had the gall to ask me if I wanted to witness it. No thanks. I might hate his guts, but I still don't feel comfortable with killing people." I finished, saying all of this in between bites.

Fang scowled. "Why not?" he asked. He scratched my shoulder, right where my wing and shoulder met. My favorite spot. It instantly made me relax and I sighed in content.

"If you ask me, it doesn't make us any better than them. They didn't have any right to decide other's fates. What gives us the right to decide theirs?" I replied.

"It's called justice." Fang said.

"Two wrongs don't make a right." I shot back.

"If two wrongs don't make a right, try three. Isn't that your motto?" he said. I looked back at him to see him grinning, and I couldn't help but grin back.

"True." I replied, going back to eating my food. I just stayed in my room for the rest of the day because of how sore I was. Unfortunately, Tori declared I was fit enough to be able to go to school tomorrow. The normal kind. Damn.

**AN: Again, sorry about the late review, and I hoped you liked it. I need some ideas for what to do next, and for that, I need you to review! Please? *gives Bambi Eyes* **


	14. Chapter 14

**AN: Here's the chapter. I don't own MR!**

(Fang's POV)

I watched Max closely as we walked to school. I could tell she was still sore from her wounds, but she was putting on a tough face for the kids. We dropped Angel and Gazzy off, and then went over to our school. Iggy and Nudge walked off to go see their friends.

"Want to skip?" Max asked me.

I rolled my eyes. "Won't they call our parents?" I asked.

She shrugged and smirked. "Didn't know you were such a mommy's boy." she said teasingly. "I'm going. You can come if you want, Mommy's Boy." She turned and started walking towards the woods. When she got there, she practically disappeared into the shadows. I thought that was my job.

I debated it for a minute, then followed Max. You know, just to make sure she didn't get herself into trouble. Max was actually waiting for me right inside the woods. She gave me a _I knew you couldn't resist_ smirk, before she started walking again. I quickened my pace until I was beside her, then grabbed her hand. She smiled up at me.

After awhile, I let go of her hand and wrapped my arm around her waist. She leaned her head against my shoulder in return. "So, where are we going?" I asked her.

"To my secret spot." she replied.

I raised an eyebrow at her. "How is it supposed to be secret if you show me it?"

"Because you're special. Just take the compliment." Max said, rolling her eyes. Finally, we came into a clearing. It went down into this bowl-like shape. At the bottom, there was a lake. It was really a beautiful place. Especially since it was the fall time now, and all of the trees were turning different colors. "This is an awesome place." I said. Max nodded. She walked away from me and up to a tree. She easily jumped up and grabbed the branch of the tree, swinging herself onto it before climbing higher.

I carefully walked over to the tree and grabbed a sturdier branch. I weighed more than Max did, especially with her light bones. If I tried to swing onto the branch she had, I'd fall right back down on my butt. I swung up into the tree and climbed until I was beside Max, just an inch above her.

We looked out over the clearing. It really was a nice place. I wonder how she found it. When I voiced my thoughts, she just said, "You find some pretty interesting things when you have wings." We stayed quiet for a while before I grabbed Max's chin and made her mom look up at me.

"I missed you so much." I told her before kissing her deeply. She immediately started kissing me back. When I lightly flicked my tongue across her lips, she groaned and opened her mouth for me. I instantly started exploring her mouth, and she returned the favor. Her arms were around my neck, pulling me closer. One of mine was on her cheek, the other behind her neck.

We eventually had to break apart for air and she smiled at me. Not a smirk, but an honest-to-God smile that made my heart melt. "I missed you too." she said.

"Mom's going to be ticked that we skipped." I told her.

She shrugged. "Probably." She didn't seem too concerned.

"Max…what did you do while we were gone?" I asked her.

She shrugged. "A bunch of fights. Arresting mad scientists. The usual."

"…What about Jeb?" I instantly regretted mentioning him. Pain and anger entered her eyes. But there was also…sadness in there too.

"I hate him. But…he's my dad, you know?" she murmured. I nodded. No matter how much I hated my dad, I couldn't totally hate him. He was my dad. And I understood Max felt the same way. And she did say that there was a time when her dad was nice, and like a normal dad. I hated this. How it was hurting her so badly.

I jumped down from the tree and looked up at her, waiting for her to follow me. She gave me a confused look, but, naïvely followed me. I walked down to the lake. When she was finally next to me, I put my hand on the small of her back, in a seemingly reassuring gesture. Then, I pushed her into the lake.

She came out sputtering and cursing. "Now, now, Max. Language." I scolded. She scowled at me, then grinned evilly. She jumped up and out of the lake easily, grabbing me around the waist before falling backwards and back into the lake. Curse having a strong, mutant girlfriend.

We went down with a splash. I opened my eyes to see Max smirking at me. And then, get this, she _kissed_ me. _Underwater!_ It was one of the sexiest things I'd ever seen. I kissed her back for a second before going up for air. Max, however, stayed down. I started getting worried after a minute.

I started looking for her after a minute and a half. I started freaking after two minutes and searched frantically, calling her name. After five minutes, I was seriously panicking. Then, I felt something jump on my back, two legs wrapping around my torso, near my waist, and two arms wrapping around my neck. I felt kisses on the back of my neck and Max's voice in my ear saying, "Got you."

I shivered as she placed more kisses down my neck. "Geez, Max. You scared the crap out of me. How'd you do that?" I asked her.

"Oh. I have gills." she replied casually, as if we were talking about the weather.

I looked over my shoulder to see her watching me with an amused look in her eyes. "You have _what_?" I asked her. She laughed.

"Gills." she replied. "I got them while I was gone. An Eraser held me under the water of this lake, and I thought I was dead until I realized that I could breath. And that's how I got my gills."

I looked at her over my shoulder. "Show me." She rolled her eyes, but got off my back and took some water into her mouth. She seemed to swallow it, but it didn't go down her throat. Oh, no, because that would make sense. Instead, it trickled out of the pores in her neck and she breathed.

I felt her neck. I felt the same. Smooth and like human skin. "Amazing." I murmured, and gave her a short, sweet kiss. "You're really amazing."

She shrugged. "Definitely not your average day girlfriend." she murmured. I helped her out of the lake and we walked back to my house. When we got home, Max opened the door. The others were in the kitchen, all of them wearing _you are _so_ busted_ looks.

Max walked into the living room. "Where's Nick?" Mom asked.

"In the kitchen." Max replied. "I know what you're thinking, but we didn't do anything bad. And it was my idea to skip today. I just didn't want to deal with all of that crap. Fang didn't want to and I convinced him, so don't get mad at him."

I started at the doorway to the living room. So _this_ is why she wasn't concerned about my mom getting ticked. She was planning to take the fall for me the whole time. Mom was going to _murder_ her.

"Why are you wet?" Mom asked, her tone menacing. I walked to the doorway with the others and saw Max shrug.

"I fell into the water. Fang went to help get me out, but he tripped and fell into the water too." Max's face was blank.

"I'm not happy with you at all." Mom said. "You shouldn't have skipped school. You're education is important and–"

Max snorted, cutting Mom off. "Oh, yes, I can see the headlines now. 'Mutant Bird-Kid Freak Graduates High School And Saves World.' I'm sure that's exactly what'll happen. I would say when pigs fly, but I've actually seen that before."

"Max! Despite what you think, you're education is important, and you shouldn't blow it off! Max, what are you going to do when all of your friends go to college, and you're left here alone?" Mom asked.

Max shrugged. "I'll manage." she said.

Mom sighed, frustrated. "Max, what am I going to do with you?" she asked.

"You don't have to do anything. You're not my mom." Max growled. "And I'm not just an object people have to deal with. Look, I'm sorry that I skipped school and corrupted your son. But, unlike you, I don't care about my education. This isn't some fairytale. I'm not going to live a normal life, and I've accepted that. I think it's about time everyone else has too." When she finished her speech, she walked over to the stairs and her room. I walked into the living room.

"Sorry." I said to my mom, apologizing both for skipping school and Max's behavior. She was so happy a second ago, and now she's ticked off. I walked into Max's room. "You shouldn't have gone off on Mom like that." I told her casually as I closed the door. She nodded. "What happened back there?"

She stared at her ceiling and grimaced She was laying back on her bed, her arms behind her head. "She's trying to act like she's my mom. And she's not." She looked blankly at the wall beside her. "Last time I check, I don't have one. I'm just some test tube baby anyways." Her voice was bitter.

"Well, maybe she wants to be. You don't have to be related by blood to be part of a family." I said.

"That's not what Jeb said." she murmured.

"Well, Jeb was wrong." I replied. I sighed and sat on the foot of her bed. "You really need to learn to open up. It's like you're so afraid of getting hurt that you never open up to anyone. None of us are going to hurt you, Max. None of us want to. Besides, my mom couldn't even hurt a fly."

"I know. It's just…I hate it when people try to act like they're the boss of me, or like they're my mom or dad. Because they aren't." She grimaced. "It reminds me of the School. Where everybody talks down to you, like you're a dog or a piece of trash that they get to push around." She shook her head. "It just ticks me off." she finished.

Then she got up and walked over to her door. "That was wrong though." she murmured reluctantly, and opened up the door, walking out. I followed her down and saw her walk into the kitchen. "Out." she said. Iggy, Nudge, Gazzy, and Angel came out of the kitchen with confused looks. Then they snuck over to the doorway and watched Max and Mom. I joined them, curious to see what they were doing.

"Rach?" Max asked. It was Mom's nickname, and that's what she demanded Max call her.

"Yes, Max?" Mom asked, sounding just like her normal self.

"Look, I'm sorry I went off on you back there. I'm just…" Max sighed and ran her hands through her hair. "Stressed." she finished.

Mom smiled at her. "Its fine." she said. "Do you want to help me with these cookies?"

Max looked at her warily. "Do you want to keep your house?" she asked.

"Yes." Mom said slowly, not getting it.

"Then you don't want me to even come near a stove." Max said.

"I'm sure you're not that bad." Mom said.

Max chuckled. "I've burned _water_ before. Trust me, I am that bad." Max said, snatching some cookie dough before Mom could stop her and winking as she walked back towards her room.

"She's a strange one." Mom told me.

I grinned. "Yeah, but she's one hellva girl." I replied.


	15. Chapter 15

**AN: I don't own MR.**

(Max's POV)

He was waiting on my balcony when I came back from my quick fly. "What's up?" I asked Fang.

He looked over at me and raised an eyebrow. "Where'd you go this time?" he asked, obviously curious.

I shrugged. "Just flew around." I replied, leaning against him. It was cold, and he was nice and warm. He felt me shiver next to him and he chuckled. He extended his arm, wrapping me with him in the blanket he was in.

"You know, only you would fly around like that without a jacket or something when it's almost Christmas." Fang said.

"It's only cold during the night," I defended, "and I went out before sunset."

"Yeah, five minutes before sunset." he replied, rolling his eyes.

"Shut up." I mumbled, leaning into him more. What? He was warm. I wrapped and arm around his waist. He moved into my room and laid down on the bed with me. I snuggled up into his side. "What were you doing out on my balcony?" I asked him, curious.

"What? I guy can't wait for his girlfriend?" he asked.

"But you always wait for me. I was just wondering why." I said.

Fang was quiet for a moment. "I love watching you fly." he said truthfully. "You're so beautiful. Your wings are so beautiful. And you're so graceful. I mean…" he trailed off. "I'm not good at this."

I smirked against him. "Good at what?" I asked, faking innocence.

"Good at telling you how beautiful you are. How much I love you, and how I wouldn't know what to do if I lost you. I'm not good at telling you how seeing you fly takes my breath away. How whenever you smile, I have to smile back. How much I love your eyes, your lips, your hair, your wings…everything." he replied. I looked up at him with shock. He gave me an amused look, but I could see that he meant every word of it.

I grinned brightly. "I love you too." I said. I kissed him, and he quickly deepened it. He wrapped his arm around my waist and pulled me on top of him.

"I wish you'd smile more." he said after we broke apart for air.

I frowned. "What do you mean?"

"Ever since you came back from fighting with the School…you haven't been smiling as much. Yes, you have your happy moments. You still tease us. But you don't seem…happy. I love it when you smile, but I've noticed that you're doing it less and less." Fang replied, looking down at me worriedly.

I shrugged. We were quiet for a minute before I asked, "Why do you like watching me fly?"

Fang sighed. "Because you look so beautiful and graceful. And you always look so relaxed when you're flying." he said. I nodded slowly, before I ruined the moment by yawning. "You're tired. Go to sleep."

I nodded and moved so that I was at his side instead of on top of him. I rested my head on his chest, and one of my hands rested on his stomach. Fang wrapped his arm around my waist and I slowly dozed off.

**AN: I know it's short, but I really don't know what to do with this story, so I thought I'd give you this Faxy fluff chapter. If you have any suggestions, please tell me.**


	16. Chapter 16

**AN: Ello peoples! I'm back and ready for action! I went on this awesome thing today call Disney Quest, and it was all this virtual reality stuff! You can even make your own rollercoaster and ride it! We didn't get to do everything, but we're going back later.**

**Anyways, here's your next chapter! And under no possible circumstances do I own MR. JP has all rights to it!**

(Max's POV)

"So, what do you want to do, Angel?" I asked. Today it was just me and her. She'd lost one of her favorite toys the other day, and I offered to have just a day for me and her to cheer her up. So, here I was, around Hollywood with an eight-year-old, trying to find something recreationally entertaining. How do I get myself into these situations?

"I want to go to the zoo!" she said excitedly.

I mentally sighed. There was a zoo that I remembered hearing about near LA. That wouldn't be too far away. So, that's where we went. I carried Angel on my shoulders so she could see better, ignoring the looks I was getting from tourists.

Angel insisted that we go see the penguins first. So, that's where we went. And, just so you know, it was inside this really cold building. And I _hate_ the cold. But, on the upside, the penguins were cool. They might not be able to fly, but they sure as could swim. We were even lucky enough to get there in time to see them feed the penguins.

"They're so cute!" Angel squealed. She seemed really happy. I smiled slightly.

"Yeah, they are." I replied. "They're also the one of the only flightless birds." I replied.

"What's another one?" Angel asked.

"Ostriches." I replied simply.

Angel was quiet for a minute. "You know a lot about birds." she commented.

"Well, I'm very interested in them. I mean, I am part bird myself." I said, chuckling. "What do you want to see next?"

"The cheetahs! Let's go see the cheetahs!" she exclaimed.

I actually laughed that time. "Alright, alright. Cheetahs it is." I looked at the map and walked around for a bit until I found it. The cheetahs, unlike the penguins, were not very active. In fact, there was three of them, and they were all sleeping like a bunch of newborn kittens. That didn't stop Angel's excitement though.

"I wish I was a cheetah." she said dreamily.

I scowled, remembering an old cheetah experiment from back at the School. It had a hunger for raw meat, just like Erasers. The kid had been dangerous, yet he cried every time he accidently killed an experiment. He ended up going insane. They terminated him when he snapped and attacked and killed a bunch of whitecoats. Figures. They didn't care if he killed us, but as soon as one of their men were hurt, the kid was sent to the slaughter. The only reason why I wasn't the same is because I was "special".

I snorted. "Special my ass." I muttered under my breath.

"What?" Angel asked.

"Nothing." I said quickly. "Let's look at the tigers next. They shouldn't be too far."

And that's how the rest of our time at the zoo went. It wasn't exactly…pleasant for me. There were a lot of animals there that reminded me of experiments. And the cages reminded me of my own cage at the School. It's pretty messed up when a girl can't even fully enjoy her time at the zoo because it reminds her of the days she was tortured and experimented on.

We drove back home, but Angel wasn't happy, or excited on the way back. "What's wrong, Ange?" I asked.

"I don't want this day to end. I'm having too much fun." she grumbled.

I smiled. "We can have other days like this." I replied. "You know, here and there. I'll tell you what, how about we get some ice cream, drop the car off at Fang's, and then I'll take you out for a fly."

Angel's eyes sparkled. "Really Max? You mean it?" she asked/squealed excitedly.

I nodded. "Of course. I don't mind." I replied, grinning at her. I pulled into a Baskin Robins and we both got out and ordered our ice cream. Mine was a lot bigger than hers, but I finished in half the time (Which I still always find funny. I mean, seriously, how is it that I eat twice, maybe three times as much as these people, yet I finish faster. Man, what does that say about my manners?). Then, we dropped the truck off at the house.

I took her up to my balcony and picked her up. I hopped onto the railing, looked around to see if anyone was watching, and then took off, beating my wings hard to make up for the extra weight. We quickly climbed up and Angel squealed in delight for the umpteenth time that day. "Max, this is amazing! And you get to do this all the time?" she asked.

I nodded, focusing on where we were going. "Can we fly through the clouds?" Angel asked suddenly. "I bet they're fluffy."

I shook my head. "Nope. Clouds are actually made up of water particles. Which means they're very wet, and you can't see anything in front of you. It can be very dangerous." I explained.

"Why?"

"Well, you can run into a plane. And that would hurt. You might even get run over by a plane."

"Oh." We were quiet for a while, and then I saw it. The Grand Canyon. Thankfully, traveling by flight is even faster than traveling by car, so I wasn't too tired by the time I landed next to the canyon. Still, it's tough to carry Angel's wait for that long, so I was pretty tired.

"Max, where are we?" Angel asked hesitantly. I grinned.

"Surprise." I said, sitting down on the edge of the canyon, so that my legs hung over. I pulled her into my lap and held her close, so that I could make sure that she wouldn't fall off. I'd landed on the side of the canyon we could see the sunset from. "Some people say that one of the most beautiful sights in all of the US is watching the sun set behind the Grand Canyon. So I decided to take you here to end our day."

"Thanks Max!" Angel said, turning to hug me. I squeezed her back. "No problem, sweetie. Now watch." I said. She turned back around and we watched the sun set together. It really was amazing. Maybe I should take Fang out here…

"Max, it's so pretty." Angel said, her voice and eyes full of wonder.

I smiled and rested my chin on top of her head. "I'm glad you like it." I replied. We watched the rest of the sunset and then I picked her up. I ran off the edge of the canyon and Angel yelped in surprise as we dropped. I let us fall for about 100 feet before I spread my wings and beat them, hard.

When we finally landed on my balcony, all I had to do was take Angel home. She fell asleep in the car, so I had to carry her up to the door. I rang the doorbell and Dr. M answered. She smiled when she saw it was us. "I was just about to call you. How did it go?" she whispered to avoid waking up Angel.

I grinned. "She loved it." I replied. "We went to the zoo, got some ice cream, and watched the sun set at the Grand Canyon. She should sleep for about a week."

Dr. M looked surprised. "That's a lot."

"Max?" Angel murmured groggily.

"Shh. I gotta go now Angel. I'll see you tomorrow." I said, kissing her forehead. I then handed her over to Dr. M. "I gotta get home. Rach is probably worried."

Dr. M nodded. "Thank you so much for doing this for her. Goodnight Max."

"Anytime. I had fun too. We might make this a habit." I said, brushing some of Angel's hair out of her face. "Goodnight." I walked over to the car and drove back home. I was exhausted by the time I walked in the door. Fang was waiting for me on the couch. I collapsed next to him and rested my head on his shoulder.

He chuckled. "Long day?" he asked.

I nodded. "It was fun though."

"That was good of you to do that for her. She really looks up to you, you know." I lifted my head up from his shoulder and looked at him skeptically. "Really, she does! Actually, I think Nudge, Angel, and Gazzy look up to you."

I rolled my eyes. "Nudge has you. Gazzy has Iggy, and Angel has Gazzy. They don't need me as a role model."

"Nudge doesn't look up to me. I mean, she does, but she looks up to you more. And, yeah, Gazzy looks up to Iggy, but he looks up to you too. And Angel looks up to Gazzy as her older brother, but you're her role model. Like her older sister in a house full of brothers." Fang said. I shrugged.

We were quiet for a while, just relaxing. Finally, I sighed. "I've got to go to bed Fang. I'm exhausted." I said. I moved to get up, only to have Fang lift me up bridal style. I yelped in surprise, very un-Max-like, and then glared at him. "Put me down, Fang!"

"Nope. You must be too tired to get upstairs by yourself, so I'm going to carry you up." he replied, already heading that way. I was about to argue again, but Fang had his _I'm not going to lose this argument no matter what you say_ face on, so I decided to just let him have his fun. He put me on the bed, and then turned to walk away, but I grabbed his hand and pulled him down with me. "Max, stop playing around, it's late."

I didn't answer. Instead, I just snuggled (Ugh. I hate that word.) more into his side, putting my head on his shoulder. He sighed, but smiled and wrapped his arms around me. "What am I going to do with you?" he asked.

I shrugged. "Good question. Now shut up and go to bed. Goodnight Fang."

The last thing I heard before I went to sleep was, "Goodnight, Max. I love you." I think I might have grunted out something that sounded relatively like, "Love you too." before I was completely zonked out, but I'm not sure.

**AN: Alright, there you go guys. Now, review and give me ideas/suggestions/criticism/whatever else. Please and thank you!**


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